WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department committed an “alarming pattern of serious investigative errors” when it secured indictments. former FBI Director James Comeya federal judge issued a ruling Monday directing prosecutors to present all grand jury materials in the case to defense attorneys.
Judge William Fitzpatrick wrote that these problems included prosecutors’ “fundamental misrepresentations of law” to the grand jury that indicted Comey in September, the use of potentially privileged communications in the investigation, and unexplained irregularities in grand jury minutes.
“The court recognizes that the relief sought by the defense is rarely granted,” Fitzpatrick wrote. “However, the record shows a disturbing pattern of investigative errors that allowed FBI agents and prosecutors to potentially undermine the integrity of the grand jury process.”
The 24-page opinion is the judge’s most scathing assessment yet of the criminal case against Comey, which has already been the subject of several other challenges, including a motion to dismiss it on the grounds that interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Harrigan, who brought the charges, was illegally appointed and that the prosecution itself amounted to a vindictive prosecution.
Mr. Comey’s lawyers had sought grand jury documents, concerned that procedural irregularities could have tainted the case. The only prosecutor to present the case to a grand jury was Harrigan, a former White House aide with no experience as a prosecutor who had only been appointed to the job a few days earlier, lawyers said.
