Judge blocks grand jury release in ex-FBI chief James Comey case
Former FBI boss and Donald Trump enemy James Comey’s obstruction of justice trial just took another dramatic turn after a second judge intervened.
The judge overseeing former FBI Director James Comey’s upcoming trial on charges of lying to Congress and obstruction of justice intervened to temporarily block a sweeping order for prosecutors to turn over grand jury materials to Mr Comey’s lawyers.
US Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick cited “a disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps” in ordering the rare move, with some legal experts suggesting the case against the 64-year-old could even be thrown out as a result.
However, in response to an appeal by interim US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Lindsey Halligan, US District Judge Michael Nachmanoff ordered a stay of Judge Fitzpatrick’s order The New York Post reports.
“The Magistrate Judge’s new order is contrary to law and the government should be allowed to object to the order,” read the appeal, which added that Fitzpatrick “may have misinterpreted some facts he found when issuing the latest order to release the grand jury materials to the defendant.”
Judge Nachmanoff gave the Justice Department until 5pm Wednesday local time (Thursday morning AEDT) to file its full brief objecting to Judge Fitzpatrick’s order, with Mr Comey’s side having until 5pm Friday local time (Saturday AEDT) to respond.
Mr Comey is one of three vocal Trump critics indicted recently in what has been widely seen as a campaign of retribution against the President’s political opponents.
Mr Comey has pleaded not guilty to charges of making false statements to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding.
Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick, in a blistering 24-page opinion, ordered prosecutors in an extraordinary move to hand over grand jury materials in the case against Mr Comey to his defence team.
“The Court recognises that the relief sought by the defence 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 said the US district attorney who brought the case against Mr Comey — a prosecutor hand-picked by Mr Trump — had made “fundamental misstatements of the law that could compromise the integrity of the grand jury process.”
“Irregularities that occurred before the grand jury, and the manner in which evidence presented to the grand jury was collected and used, may rise to the level of government misconduct resulting in prejudice to Mr Comey,” he said.
Grounds may exist to dismiss the indictment because of the handling of grand jury proceedings by the prosecution, the judge said.
Mr Comey has filed a separate motion seeking to have the charges thrown out on the grounds they are motivated by the “personal spite” of Mr Trump and constitute a “vindictive and selective prosecution.”
New York Attorney-General Letitia James, who has also been indicted by the Trump Justice Department, has sought to have her case tossed on the same basis.
Ms James, who successfully prosecuted Mr Trump for business fraud, has been indicted in Virginia on one count of bank fraud and a second count of making false statements to a financial institution.
Another Trump critic, his former national security adviser John Bolton, has been indicted on 18 counts of transmitting and retaining classified information.
Mr Comey was appointed to head the FBI by then-president Barack Obama in 2013 and was fired by Mr Trump in 2017.
The charges against Mr Comey came days after Mr Trump publicly urged Attorney-General Pam Bondi to take action against the former FBI director and others he sees as enemies — a stunning departure from the principle that the Justice Department must be free from White House pressure.
Mr Trump hailed the indictment, calling Mr Comey “one of the worst human beings this country has ever been exposed to.”
Since taking office in January, President Trump has taken a number of punitive measures against perceived enemies, purging government officials he deemed to be disloyal, targeting law firms involved in past cases against him and pulling federal funding from universities.
– with AFP
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Originally published as Judge blocks grand jury release in ex-FBI chief James Comey case