Lowly Federal Magistrate Orders Comey Prosecutor to Turn Over all Grand Jury Materials, Claiming a "Disturbing Pattern" of Prosecuting a Democrat

Actually the magistrate claimed a disturbing pattern of misleading claims, but I think my translation is more accurate.

This corrupt operator is looking to disqualify the prosecutor, believing that if she is eliminated, no one at the DOJ will be willing to prosecute the Deep State Fixer James Comey.

A federal magistrate judge has ordered the Justice Department to turn over grand jury materials to former FBI Director James Comey as he fights criminal charges, pointing to possible government misconduct as reason to grant the unusual relief.

Judge William Fitzpatrick referenced several apparent missteps by Lindsey Halligan, the interim U.S. attorney hand-picked by President Trump to pursue charges against his foe, that may have threatened the proceeding's fairness.

He said that Comey's right to due process outweighs the typical secrecy afforded to grand jury proceedings, directing prosecutors to hand over the materials by the end of Monday.

It's always Democrats who are discovered to have stronger rights than the ordinary citizen. A phantasmal "intent" requirement was falsely read into the Espionage law to save Hillary Clinton -- by James Comey, of course.

"The Court recognizes that the relief sought by the defense 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."

We never grant these motions, but a key Democrat Deep State operative is making it now, soooo.

...

Though Fitzpatrick did not name Halligan, a different federal judge confirmed at a hearing last week that Halligan was the only prosecutor to present evidence against Comey to the grand jury. Fitzpatrick also said that just one prosecutor was present.

The judge wrote that "the prosecutor" made at least two statements to grand jurors that seemed to be "fundamental misstatements of the law."

The remarks themselves were redacted in the court filing. But Fitzpatrick said they came in response to grand jurors' questions and were directly related to communications involving Comey.

One of the remarks, the judge said, implied that Comey does not have a Fifth Amendment right to decline to testify at trial, which may have led grand jurors to believe that it is Comey's burden, not the government's, to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

That statement was made in response to "challenging questions" from grand jurors, Fitzpatrick continued, suggesting grand jurors may have believed that even if Halligan could not answer their questions, Comey would later have to.

The other remark "clearly suggested" to grand jurors that they did not have to rely on the record before them and could be assured that the government had more, and possibly better, evidence that would be presented at trial, the judge said.

Fitzpatrick also raised concern about the actual indictment returned.

Halligan initially sought to charge Comey with three counts, but a grand jury rejected one of those charges. The top prosecutor prepared a second indictment, removing that count, which was accepted by a magistrate judge.

But Fitzpatrick said the record seems to indicate that the grand jury did not review the actual indictment that was ultimately returned, throwing the case into "uncharted legal territory."

posted by Ace at 05:00 PM

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