The federal prosecutor who secured an indictment against former FBI Director James Comey for allegedly threatening the life of President Trump in a since-deleted social media post of seashells has stepped down, according to a recent court filing.
A “notice of substitution” filed in the Eastern District of North Carolina on Friday stated that Matthew Petracca would no longer serve as the Justice Department’s counsel on the case and would be replaced by assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Severo.
The filing did not provide any explanation for Petracca’s removal from the case, and the Eastern District of North Carolina did not immediately return a request for comment on Saturday.
Petracca has also dropped off other criminal cases in the same jurisdiction in recent days, according to NBC News, which first reported his departure from the Comey case. The network also reported that Petracca had contemplated leaving the DOJ entirely but decided against it after taking a week off, citing two people familiar with the matter.