In an unusual move, a federal judge ordered the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Nov. 17 to turn over grand jury records to former FBI Director James Comey in the case against him, citing possible misconduct.
U.S. Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick said in a 24-page ruling that the DOJ’s actions “raise genuine issues of misconduct, are inextricably linked to the government’s grand jury presentation, and deserve to be fully explored by the defense.”
“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.”
Fitzpatrick added that Comey’s right to due process outweighs the usual secrecy around grand jury proceedings. As CatholicVote previously reported, Comey was indicted Sept. 25 on two charges — lying to Congress and obstruction of justice — stemming from statements he made to Congress in 2020. He has pleaded not guilty, and his trial is scheduled for Jan. 5.
Fitzpatrick’s order outlined seven errors he said raised red flags and, in particular, singled out lead prosecutor Lindsey Halligan.
As one of his concerns, the judge faulted investigators for using evidence obtained from four search warrants issued in 2019 and 2020 that targeted an associate of Comey — not Comey himself — without seeking a new warrant for the 2025 probe.
“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,” Fitzpatrick wrote. “The Court recognizes that a failure to seek a new warrant under these circumstances is highly unusual.”
Fitzpatrick also questioned Halligan’s timeline on the day the charges were returned. He said Halligan told the court she last communicated with the grand jury at 4:28 p.m., when panelists were still deliberating. After learning at 6:40 p.m. that the panel rejected one of the two proposed counts, Halligan allegedly appeared in court just seven minutes later with a revised indictment.
The brief window of time “could not have been sufficient to draft the second indictment, sign the second indictment, present it to the grand jury, provide legal instructions to the grand jury, and give them an opportunity to deliberate and render a decision on the new indictment,” he wrote.
Fitzpatrick warned that the grand jury proceedings may have been so compromised that the indictment could ultimately be dismissed. He directed the DOJ to turn over audio recordings of the proceedings and all sealed grand jury filings by the end of the day on Nov. 17.
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