'Disturbing': Judge gives Comey everything he wanted after Trump's 'really good lawyer' may have 'infected' case with 'constitutional error'

The U.S. magistrate who demanded that the DOJ manus implicit "all" James Comey expansive assemblage materials for the jurist to reappraisal successful backstage has travel distant from that in-chambers inspection believing that an FBI cause witnesser and President Donald Trump's erstwhile defence lawyer turned marque caller authoritative whitethorn person compromised the lawsuit earlier the expansive jury.

U.S. Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick, who had already dinged U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi's DOJ for an "indict archetypal analyse later" attitude, conscionable one week ago ordered the authorities to supply expansive assemblage transcripts and audio, positive years-old "Arctic Haze" leak probe evidence, truthful helium could measurement whether determination was merit to Comey's arguments successful favour of overriding expansive assemblage secrecy.

Comey's defence had claimed that immoderate "misconduct" whitethorn person occurred earlier the expansive jury, whether done interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Lindsey Halligan's presumption oregon done a "tainted" FBI cause witness who "may person been exposed" to attorney-client privileged information.

To date, the DOJ has insisted that Comey had fallen good abbreviated of showing helium had the goods to flooded the "long-established nationalist involvement successful expansive assemblage secrecy" done "particularized and factually based grounds" successful favour of disclosure.

Fitzpatrick's sentiment connected Monday emphasized, however, that a "disturbing signifier of profound investigative missteps" rendered those contentions unavailing.

"[T]he Court finds that the organization concerns for expansive assemblage secrecy are greatly outweighed by Mr. Comey's close to Due Process," the magistrate wrote. "The Court recognizes that the alleviation sought by the defence is seldom granted. However, the grounds points to a disturbing signifier of profound investigative missteps, missteps that led an FBI cause and a authoritative to perchance undermine the integrity of the expansive assemblage proceeding."

Noting that ordering the merchandise of the expansive assemblage materials to Comey's defence would not marque them nationalist astatine this time, fixed the protective bid successful place, Fitzpatrick said the ex-FBI manager deserves to person them due to the fact that they are "essential" to a just defense.

"[A]s the Court has found, these materials are indispensable if Mr. Comey is to afloat and reasonably support himself successful the look of the irregularities that person characterized this probe from its inception," the magistrate said.

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Further down successful the opinion, the justice took banal of Halligan's presumption and the grounds of the FBI agent.

Regarding Halligan, the lone signer of the Comey indictment and the lone authoritative successful the expansive assemblage room, Fitzpatrick said helium "identified 2 statements" that she made to expansive jurors that "on their look look to beryllium cardinal misstatements of instrumentality that could compromise the integrity of the expansive assemblage process."

One of those statements seems to person emphasized that Comey's soundlessness could beryllium utilized against him.

"Both statements by the authoritative are successful effect to questions by expansive jurors and are straight related to communications involving Mr. Comey," Fitzpatrick explained, though the nonstop Halligan statements were redacted.

"The prosecutor's connection that [redacted] is simply a cardinal and highly prejudicial misstatement of the instrumentality that suggests to the expansive assemblage that Mr. Comey does not person a Fifth Amendment close not to attest astatine trial," the magistrate continued. "The prosecutor's connection ignores the foundational regularisation of instrumentality that if Mr. Comey exercised his close not attest the assemblage could gully nary antagonistic inference from that decision."

The 2nd Halligan statement, Fitzpatrick continued, "clearly suggested to the expansive assemblage that they did not person to trust lone connected the grounds earlier them to find probable origin but could beryllium assured the authorities had much evidence–perhaps amended evidence–that would beryllium presented astatine trial."

"[T]he authoritative made statements to the expansive jurors that could reasonably signifier the ground for the defence to situation whether the expansive assemblage proceedings were infected with law error," helium said.

As for the FBI cause witness? The magistrate recovered it "troublesome" that the DOJ's "sole witnesser earlier the expansive assemblage was exposed to a 'limited overview' of privileged worldly soon earlier helium testified."

Comey's defense, therefore, should person the expansive assemblage materials to research "whether the government's behaviour was willful oregon successful reckless disregard of the law," Fitzpatrick said.

"This is peculiarly important due to the fact that Agent-3, aft having been exposed to perchance privileged information, chose to attest earlier the expansive assemblage alternatively than abstracted himself from the probe to incorporate immoderate further vulnerability to privileged accusation and bounds immoderate prejudice to Mr. Comey," helium added.

Taken together, Halligan and the cause "potentially undermine[d] the integrity of the expansive assemblage proceeding," making this the "rare" clip ordering "all expansive assemblage materials" implicit to the defence the due decision, Fitzpatrick concluded.

Days earlier Halligan's presumption earlier the expansive jury, Trump publically pleaded with Bondi to install the erstwhile security lawyer successful place of ousted ex-EDVA interim U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert.

"Lindsey Halligan is simply a truly bully lawyer, and likes you, a lot," Trump said.

Read the afloat sentiment here.