On Monday, November 17, a federal judge in the United States ordered the Department of Justice to disclose grand jury materials to lawyers representing former FBI director James Comey. Judge William Fitzpatrick noted in his order that errors and misconduct by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan’s team in the Eastern District of Virginia jeopardized the charges against Comey.
In a 24-page opinion, Fitzpatrick wrote, “The Court acknowledges that this is an extraordinary remedy, but given the factual challenges raised by the defense to the government’s conduct and the possibility that the government’s misconduct may have affected the grand jury proceedings, disclosure of the grand jury materials is necessary in these particular circumstances.”
The opinion ordered the disclosure of all grand jury materials related to the September indictment of Comey.
The judge suggested that the prosecutors may have violated the court order and Comey’s Fourth Amendment rights. He questioned whether this action could be “reasonable grounds to inquire whether the government’s conduct was intentional or reckless.”
Fitzpatrick added, “The facts as alleged and the Court’s specific findings suggest that ‘grounds may exist to dismiss the indictment’ due to events during the grand jury proceedings.”
In October, the judge ordered the prosecution to provide defense lawyers with a substantial amount of investigative materials related to Comey. Earlier, Comey’s lawyers argued that they were at a disadvantage because they couldn’t access information collected in leak investigations by the FBI.
Comey was charged in 2020 with lying to Congress, a charge he denies. His lawyers argue that this retaliatory prosecution was initiated under the direction of President Trump and must be dismissed.
Fitzpatrick also expressed his personal concerns. He told lawyers at a hearing on November 5, “The procedures in this case are highly unusual.” He suggested that the Department of Justice seemed to have made a decision of “prosecute first, investigate later.”
The indictment against Comey was brought by former White House aide and Trump lawyer, Halligan, who was just appointed as the U.S. Attorney for Virginia.
A few days before Comey was indicted, President Trump took to social media urging the Attorney General to take action against Comey and several others.
Earlier this month, the Department of Justice defended the President’s social media posts in court documents, stating that they reflected “lawful prosecutorial motives” and were not grounds for dismissal.
They urged the judge to reject Comey’s lawyers’ arguments. DOJ lawyers wrote, “The Court should still find that the defendant has not been retaliated against because the record shows that the lawsuit was brought not simply to punish the defendant for exercising the First Amendment right.”
Background reading: “Understanding Why Former FBI Director Comey Was Indicted.”