{"id":29179,"date":"2026-01-06T13:25:50","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T13:25:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/?p=29179"},"modified":"2026-01-06T13:25:50","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T13:25:50","slug":"judge-asserts-misconduct-in-comey-case-grants-temporary-win-to-u-s-attorney-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/?p=29179","title":{"rendered":"Judge Asserts Misconduct in Comey Case, Grants Temporary Win to U.S. Attorney"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A federal judge on Monday temporarily halted a magistrate\u2019s explosive order that had directed the Justice Department to hand over grand jury materials to former FBI Director James Comey, marking a brief reprieve for U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan as questions swirl over the government\u2019s handling of the case.<\/p>\n

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The pause came just hours after Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick ruled that Halligan \u2014 a Trump-appointed prosecutor with little prior criminal experience \u2014 may have tainted the case through \u201cprofound investigative missteps\u201d that undermined the integrity of the grand jury proceedings.<\/p>\n

In his ruling from Alexandria, Virginia, Fitzpatrick said the record \u201cpoints to a disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps\u201d that included errors by both prosecutors and an FBI agent.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThese missteps led an FBI agent and a prosecutor to potentially undermine the integrity of the grand jury proceeding,\u201d the judge wrote.<\/p>\n

Fitzpatrick ordered the government to turn over the full set of grand jury transcripts, as well as related recordings, to Comey\u2019s defense attorneys \u2014 calling it an \u201cextraordinary remedy\u201d but necessary under \u201cunique circumstances.\u201d He also scolded prosecutors for pursuing what he called a \u201cslapdash indictment,\u201d accusing the DOJ of choosing to \u201cindict first, investigate second.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The ruling revealed internal concerns that Halligan, who was appointed in September, may have given misleading instructions to grand jurors and failed to secure proper warrants before reviewing evidence seized years earlier. Fitzpatrick found that she made \u201ctwo misstatements to the grand jury that may put the case in jeopardy.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Justice Department immediately appealed, asking a higher court to stay the order. Later Monday evening, U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff \u2014 who was appointed by former President Biden \u2014 agreed to temporarily pause Fitzpatrick\u2019s ruling while the DOJ files formal objections. He ordered the government to submit its objections by Wednesday at 5 p.m., with Comey\u2019s defense response due Friday.<\/p>\n

Comey, who served as FBI director from 2013 to 2017, was indicted in September on two counts: false statements and obstruction of a congressional proceeding. The charges stem from his 2020 Senate testimony regarding whether he had authorized leaks to the press about the FBI\u2019s handling of investigations into then-President Donald Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.<\/p>\n

The magistrate judge\u2019s order also revealed that an earlier grand jury rejected a three-count indictment against Comey before the DOJ refiled with a narrower two-count case. Reuters\u00a0reported\u00a0that Fitzpatrick\u2019s opinion detailed specific legal errors in Halligan\u2019s conduct, noting that one FBI agent who testified before the grand jury may have been \u201cexposed to material shielded by attorney-client privilege.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Court finds the record in this case requires the full disclosure of grand jury materials,\u201d Fitzpatrick wrote. \u201cGiven the factually based challenges the defense has raised to the government\u2019s conduct and the prospect that misconduct may have tainted the grand jury proceedings, disclosure under these unique circumstances is necessary to fully protect the rights of the accused.\u201d<\/p>\n

Comey has pleaded not guilty and accused the Trump administration of prosecuting him out of \u201cpersonal spite,\u201d citing his role in leading the FBI\u2019s investigation into alleged Russian influence on Trump\u2019s 2016 campaign. His lawyers argue the indictment represents a politically motivated vendetta rather than a legitimate criminal case.<\/p>\n

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Comey is one of three prominent Trump critics charged in recent months by the Justice Department, alongside former National Security Adviser John Bolton and New York Attorney General Letitia James \u2014 both of whom have also alleged political retaliation.<\/p>\n

A DOJ spokesperson declined to comment on the ruling but said prosecutors intend to \u201cvigorously defend the integrity of the proceedings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Fitzpatrick\u2019s order has fueled debate over the department\u2019s independence and the perception of political interference in prosecutions. Legal experts said the ruling marks one of the rare instances in which a judge has authorized disclosure of grand jury materials to a defendant, citing misconduct concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is highly unusual,\u201d said one former federal prosecutor. \u201cGrand jury secrecy is sacrosanct \u2014 when a court orders disclosure, it means the judge believes the government crossed a serious line.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A federal judge on Monday temporarily halted a magistrate\u2019s explosive order that had directed the Justice Department to hand over grand jury materials to former FBI Director James Comey, marking … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29180,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29179"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29179\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29181,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29179\/revisions\/29181"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}