"Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick just dropped a legal mic on prosecutors in the James Comey case. In a blistering 24-page opinion, he ordered the Department of Justice to turn over all grand jury materials related to the Comey indictment to the defense. (Though the government has asked for a stay in complying with the order while the file their objections.) Because, despite the Trump administration's best efforts, due process is still a thing."
"The record points to a disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps, missteps that led an FBI agent and a prosecutor to potentially undermine the integrity of the grand jury proceeding. That is spectacularly harsh judicial language. When a judge says your work "undermined the integrity" of the grand jury, that's not a critique - that's a diagnosis. And the cure? Full disclosure of all the grand jury materials."
"The court recognizes this is an extraordinary remedy, but given the factually based challenges the defense has raised to the government's conduct and the prospect that government misconduct may have tainted the grand jury proceedings, disclosure of grand jury materials under these unique circumstances is necessary to fully protect the rights of the accused."
Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick ordered the Department of Justice to disclose all grand jury materials related to the James Comey indictment to the defense. The opinion spans 24 pages and the government has asked for a stay while it files objections. The court identified a disturbing pattern of investigative missteps by an FBI agent and a prosecutor that potentially undermined the grand jury's integrity. The judge described disclosure as an extraordinary remedy but necessary given factually based challenges and the prospect that government misconduct tainted proceedings. The disclosure order aims to protect the accused's rights and scrutinize prosecutorial conduct.
Read at Above the Law
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