Judge Blasts Prosecutors Over ‘Disturbing’ Missteps in Comey Case

A federal judge sharply rebuked ⚖️Prosecutors on Monday, ordering them to hand over secret grand jury materials in the case against former FBI Director James Comey after outlining what he called “a disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps.”

According to the New York Post, in a 24-page ruling, U.S. Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick accused the government of violating attorney-client privilege, mishandling evidence, and presenting faulty guidance to the grand jury that indicted Comey, a longtime adversary of President 👤Donald Trump.

Fitzpatrick criticized interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Lindsey Halligan for what he described as “fundamental misstatements of the law” during her presentation to the grand jury. He also raised concerns about discrepancies in the timeline surrounding the indictment.

The ruling noted that Halligan told the court she last communicated with the grand jurors at 4:28 p.m. as they deliberated. She later reported learning at 6:40 p.m. that one of the original counts was rejected—minutes before the second indictment was returned in open court.

“The short time span between the moment the prosecutor learned that the grand jury rejected one count in the original indictment and the time the prosecutor appeared in court to return the second indictment could not have been sufficient to draft the second indictment, sign the second indictment, present it to the grand jury, provide legal instructions to the grand jury, and give them an opportunity to deliberate and render a decision on the new indictment,” Fitzpatrick wrote.