U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff testifies during a Senate Judiciary Committee nomination hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 28, 2021 in this frame grab.

The Biden-nominated federal district judge and former public defender presiding over James Comey’s criminal case already faces attacks by President Donald Trump.

Judge Michael Stefan Nachmanoff, of the Eastern District of Virginia, is overseeing the Trump Justice Department’s case against the 64-year-old former FBI director on two counts of allegedly lying to Congress and obstructing congressional proceedings. Comey will be arraigned on Oct. 9 in Nachmanoff’s Alexandria courtroom.

Less than a day after federal prosecutors announced charges against Comey, Trump already cast doubt on Nachmanoff in a Truth Social post the next morning. Having Nachmanoff preside over the case, Trump said on Sept. 26, means Comey, whom he called a “Dirty Cop,” is “off to a very good start.”

Here’s what to know about Nachmanoff, the Washington, D.C., native who once advocated for sentencing reform and is now at the center of the politicized criminal case.

How was he nominated?

President Joe Biden nominated Nachmanoff to the bench in July 2021. He was recommended by senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, both Virginia Democrats, alongside Patricia Tolliver Giles, who is now also a district judge in the Eastern District of Virginia. Before then, he served as a magistrate judge from 2015 to 2021.

In responses to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Nachmanoff told lawmakers judges should not yield to social pressure when deciding the outcome of cases. “A judge must decide every case based on the faithful application of the law to the specific facts of the case without regard to the outcome,” he said.

As to whether a defendant’s personal characteristics should influence punishment received, Nachmanoff cited federal code that the “nature and circumstances of the offense and the history and characteristics of the defendant” are among factors to be considered in appropriate sentencing. But, he added, a person’s race, sex, national origin, creed, religion and socioeconomic status aren’t relevant.

He said he sought, as a magistrate judge, to treat “every litigant fairly and impartially.”

The Senate confirmed Nachmanoff 52-46 in October 2021 largely on a party line vote, with three Republicans joining Democrats then in the majority to approve him.

Role as federal public defender

Nachmanoff formerly served as a federal public defender from 2002 to 2015. In their recommendation, Warner and Kaine said Nachmanoff supervised a team that represented more than 2,500 clients accused of federal violations ranging from petty offenses to capital murder.

He argued before the Supreme Court in 2007 in a case centered on sentencing disparities for defendants convicted of possessing crack versus powder cocaine. The case resulted in federal district judges gaining discretion in sentencing instead of mandatory use of federal sentencing guidelines for crack-cocaine, according to SCOTUSblog. In 2010, Nachmanoff testified before the United States Sentencing Commission urging it to abolish mandatory minimum sentences.

Before his role as a public defender, he worked in private practice. He served as law clerk in the Eastern District of Virginia for Judge Leonie Brinkema, after graduating from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1995.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who is Judge Michael Nachmanoff? The Biden appointee central to the Comey case

Reporting by Eduardo Cuevas, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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