A federal grand jury has subpoenaed Daniel Richman, a longtime adviser to former FBI director James Comey, as part of a renewed investigation into whether Comey improperly disclosed sensitive information to the media during Donald Trump's first term. The move comes amid what critics describe as an increasingly aggressive Justice Department campaign to pursue Trump's perceived political adversaries, including former law enforcement and intelligence officials, fuelling accusations that the department is being "weaponised" for political ends.

Richman previously featured in an earlier inquiry into whether Comey retained memos of private conversations with Trump after his 2017 dismissal and subsequently leaked them, though prosecutors ultimately declined to charge him, despite a 2019 inspector general's report finding he had breached internal policy. This latest probe marks the third case opened or revived against Comey since Trump returned to office in January 2025; he has already been indicted twice, once over alleged lying to Congress, a case dismissed by a Virginia judge, and once over a since-deleted Instagram post featuring seashells arranged into the numbers "8647", which prosecutors treated as a veiled threat against the president. Comey denies knowing the significance of the number and is due to be arraigned next month.