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“'The Court recognizes that the relief sought by the defense is rarely granted,' Fitzpatrick said. 'However, 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.'”
“The judge wrote that “the prosecutor” made at least two statements to grand jurors that seemed to be 'fundamental misstatements of the law.'”
Comments: This was always a purely political case pursued by a vengeful Donald J. Trump. The "prosecutor," Lindsey Halligan, does not have prior prosecutorial experience. It's not surprising that Judge William Fitzpatrick discovered serious problems with the case.
A federal magistrate judge has ordered the Justice Department to turn over grand jury materials to former FBI Director James Comey as he fights criminal charges, pointing to possible government misconduct as reason to grant the unusual relief.
Judge William Fitzpatrick referenced several apparent missteps by Lindsey Halligan, the interim U.S. attorney hand-picked by President Trump to pursue charges against his foe, that may have threatened the proceeding’s fairness. He said that Comey’s right to due process outweighs the typical secrecy afforded to grand jury proceedings, directing prosecutors to hand over the materials by the end of Monday:
“The Court recognizes that the relief sought by the defense is rarely granted,” Fitzpatrick said. “However, 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.”
A different federal judge confirmed at a hearing last week that Halligan was the only prosecutor to present evidence against Comey to the grand jury. Fitzpatrick also said that just one prosecutor was present. The judge wrote that “the prosecutor” made at least two statements to grand jurors that seemed to be “fundamental misstatements of the law.”
One of the remarks, the judge said, implied that Comey does not have a Fifth Amendment right to decline to testify at trial, which may have led grand jurors to believe that it is Comey’s burden, not the government’s, to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The other remark “clearly suggested” to grand jurors that they did not have to rely on the record before them and could be assured that the government had more, and possibly better, evidence that would be presented at trial, the judge said.
Fitzpatrick also raised concern about the actual indictment returned. Halligan initially sought to charge Comey with three counts, but a grand jury rejected one of those charges. The top prosecutor prepared a second indictment, removing that count, which was accepted by a magistrate judge.
But Fitzpatrick said the record seems to indicate that the grand jury did not review the actual indictment that was ultimately returned, throwing the case into “uncharted legal territory.” He pointed to a declaration Halligan signed addressing missing minutes in the grand jury transcript as proof of the catch-22.
Either way, the confusion is reason enough to allow Comey access to the materials, Fitzpatrick determined. And an FBI agent’s testimony could also be cause for alarm, the judge said.
Comey’s charges center around a brief exchange in his 2020 testimony with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), where the former FBI director seemed to affirm 2017 testimony that he never authorized anyone to be an anonymous source in news reports. But prosecutors claim Comey lied and had encouraged Columbia University law professor Daniel Richman, a friend and, at one point, his attorney, to talk to reporters about FBI matters.
Fitzpatrick wrote that the FBI seemed to have taken a “cavalier attitude” toward protecting privileged information between Richman and Comey when it initially seized materials in 2019 and 2020. However, “inexplicably,” it did not seek a new search warrant this year, he said. An agent was “specifically instructed” to seize conversations between Richman and Comey, and there appeared to be “no precautions” put in place to avoid collecting privileged communications. That agent was the sole witness to testify before the grand jury.
“The government’s decision to allow an agent who was exposed to potentially privileged information to testify before a grand jury is highly irregular and a radical departure from past DOJ practice,” Fitzpatrick wrote. Fitzpatrick’s ruling comes as Halligan’s appointment as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia is under intense scrutiny.
Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James have challenged her installation, and a federal judge is expected to rule on whether she is lawfully serving in the post before Thanksgiving. If she is disqualified, it could spell peril for both cases.
Comments
'However, 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.'”
“The judge wrote that “the prosecutor” made at least two statements to grand jurors
that seemed to be 'fundamental misstatements of the law.'”
Comments: This was always a purely political case pursued by a vengeful Donald J. Trump.
The "prosecutor," Lindsey Halligan, does not have prior prosecutorial experience.
It's not surprising that Judge William Fitzpatrick discovered serious problems with the case.