A federal judge issued a sharp rebuke to the Department of Justice on Monday, ordering prosecutors to hand over grand jury materials to disgraced former FBI Director James Comey.
The order comes after the judge claimed to have found, what he described as, “highly unusual” and potentially improper conduct during the secret proceedings.
Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick said the DOJ’s handling of evidence and the conduct of lead prosecutor Lindsey Halligan raised serious red flags.
Fitzpatrick responded by authorizing an extraordinary level of transparency typically barred under grand jury secrecy rules.
“The Court is finding that the government’s actions in this case — whether purposeful, reckless, or negligent — raise genuine issues of misconduct, are inextricably linked to the government’s grand jury presentation, and deserve to be fully explored by the defense,” Fitzpatrick wrote.
Comey, who faces one count of making a false statement to Congress and one count of obstruction of justice, has pleaded not guilty.
His legal team has argued the case should be dismissed entirely.
In Comey’s defense, the judge suggested the grand jury’s integrity may already be beyond repair.
He warned the “tainted” proceedings could force him to throw out the indictment if the problems prove as severe as the defense claims.
The judge’s concerns center on Halligan, a former White House aide and insurance lawyer with no prior experience as a prosecutor.
She was installed in September as interim U.S. attorney.
Fitzpatrick described Halligan’s appointment as the DOJ’s “rush” to file charges before the statute of limitations expired.
According to the ruling, Halligan presented evidence to the grand jury derived from warrants issued in 2019 and 2020, years before the current investigation.
The judge accused Halligan of “brushing off” rules governing how such material can be reviewed or seized.
Fitzpatrick said the DOJ displayed a “cavalier attitude” toward the Fourth Amendment.
“Inexplicably, the government elected not to seek a new warrant for the 2025 search, even though the 2025 investigation was focused on a different person, was exploring a fundamentally different legal theory, and was predicated on an entirely different set of criminal offenses,” he wrote.
“The Court recognizes that a failure to seek a new warrant under these circumstances is highly unusual.”
Fitzpatrick also pointed to grand jury transcripts showing Halligan made “prejudicial and misleading statements,” including falsely suggesting to jurors that Comey did not have a Fifth Amendment right.
The ruling grants Comey access to the full record of the secret proceedings, including audio.
It also orders the DOJ to turn everything over by the end of the day.
The DOJ argued that Comey’s objections were “speculative and unsubstantiated” and fell short of the stringent legal standard required to breach grand jury secrecy.
Fitzpatrick disagreed, saying the government’s own behavior had made transparency unavoidable.
The decision marks a significant legal win for Comey and a major setback for prosecutors, who now face the possibility that their own procedural missteps could unravel the case entirely.
READ MORE – Judge Overseeing James Comey Indictment Openly Attacks Trump’s DOJ
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