Rookie prosecutor behind high-profile revenge indictment quietly removed from case: report

The Department of Justice rookie prosecutor who's been leading the effort to charge former FBI Director James Comey stepped off the case, NBC News reported.

Matthew Petracca, an assistant U.S. attorney, brought the case to a federal grand jury for the second indictment against Comey because of his sheashell photo. NBC News found in a court filing that Petracca is no longer on the case, per a court filing.

The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, where Petracca worked, requested that he "be removed from the court's docket as counsel for the government," the two-page filing stated, without offering details.

According to NBC News, Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Severo will take over in his place. Petracca recently left other criminal cases in the Eastern District of North Carolina, and a substitute also handled a recent interaction with Comey's defense team, per NBC News.

Petrecca didn't respond to NBC News' request for comment.