Judge scolds Justice Department for profound investigative missteps' in Comey case

"The Justice Department engaged in a disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps in the process of securing an indictment against former FBI Director James Comey, a federal judge ruled Monday in directing prosecutors to produce to defense lawyers all grand jury materials from the case. Those problems, wrote Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick, include fundamental misstatements of the law by a prosecutor to the grand jury that indicted Comey in September,"

"That case, along with a separate prosecution of New York Attorney General Letitia James, have stirred concerns that the Justice Department is being weaponized to pursue President Donald Trump's political opponents. Both defendants have filed multiple motions to dismiss the cases against them before trial, arguing that the prosecutions are improperly vindictive and that the prosecutor who filed the charges, Lindsey Halligan, was illegally appointed."

Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick ordered prosecutors to provide defense lawyers with all grand jury materials, citing a pattern of investigative missteps in the Comey indictment. The findings include a prosecutor's fundamental misstatements of the law to the grand jury, use of potentially privileged communications, and unexplained transcript irregularities. The 24-page opinion raised concerns about the integrity of the grand jury proceeding and noted that the prosecutor who presented the case, Lindsey Halligan, had recently been appointed and lacked prior prosecutorial experience. Parallel concerns arose about potential weaponization of prosecutions in a separate case involving New York Attorney General Letitia James.

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