Things are not going very well for Trump's Revenge Tour: James Comey edition. The judge has been critical of all the probably, definitely, maybe illegal and incorrect things that the DOJ's newest appointed lawyer, Lindsay Halligan has been doing in deference to King Mango Tits.
Not only was the indictment of James Comey rushed (literally, almost to the day when the 5-year statute of limitations was set to run out), but they clearly indicted first, looked for evidence second.
On Wednesday November 5th, just 2 weeks ago, the judge ordered prosecutors to "produce to defense lawyers a trove of materials from the investigation, saying he was concerned the Justice Department's position had been to "indict first" and investigate second."
Judge Fitzpatrick ordered prosecutors to "produce by the end of the day on Thursday grand jury materials and other evidence that investigators seized during the investigation." This order came after Comey's attorneys made a strong case that they were at a disadvantage to provide a solid defense, as they were not given an opportunity to review information that the FBI collected years before. Comey's lawyers had previously requested a transcript of grand jury proceedings.
Well, things came to a head today when the same Judge found evidence of "government misconduct" related to how the Trump loving prosecutor actually secured the indictment against former James Comey. In fact, Judge Fitzpatrick found that Halligan may have made significant legal errors in presenting evidence and instructing grand jurors who were weighing whether to charge Comey.
In his ruling, the judge states: "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."
There were extensive mentions of violations of the Fourth Amendment (protects individuals from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government) as well as constitutional errors with the Grand Jury, privilege issues AND due process issues. It is rare for Grand Jury secrecy to be pierced so bluntly, but in this case, the violations are serious that the judge allowed it.
The conclusion paragraph is...incredible:
"The Court recognizes that the relief sought by the defense is rarely granted. 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. Therefore, in this case, “the Court has before it a rare example of a criminal defendant who can actually make a ‘particularized and factually based’ showing that grounds exist to support the proposition that irregularities may have occurred in the grand jury proceedings and may justify the dismissal of one or more counts of the indictment.”
Read the truly blistering ruling here.
