A US federal judge says “investigative missteps” and “government misconduct” may have tainted the Trump administration’s criminal case against former FBI director James Comey.
Judge William Fitzpatrick ordered justice department lawyers to release grand jury materials, including transcripts and evidence, to Mr Comey’s defence team. The justice department has appealed against the order.
Mr Comey was charged with making false statements and obstruction of justice in September, after Donald Trump called for his prosecution and appointed a new federal prosecutor to pursue the case.
The former FBI chief, who has long drawn the US president’s ire, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Mr Comey was fired by Trump during his first term, after leading an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election. Since then, he has been a frequent target of the two-term US president.
Mr Comey is accused of lying to lawmakers about his Russian election interference investigation during a congressional hearing in 2020.
After other federal prosecutors had reportedly declined to pursue the case against him, citing a lack of evidence, Trump made Lindsey Halligan the lead prosecutor in the case. She secured an indictment three days later.
An indictment in the US justice system is a formal accusation issued by a grand jury – a group of citizens who examine the merits of evidence – to determine if a case should proceed.
Mr Comey was formally charged in October in a federal court in Virginia, where he pleaded not guilty.
His defence team has not only taken issue with the legality of Ms Halligan’s quick appointment to the role of interim US attorney, a process through which she circumvented congressional approval, but also filed motions over how she brought the indictment.
On Monday, Judge Fitzpatrick wrote in a 24-page opinion that he had identified at least two statements Ms Halligan made to grand jurors that could be seen as “fundamental misstatements of the law that could compromise the integrity of the grand jury process”.
One statement Halligan made, the judge noted, “suggests” that the grand jury “did not have to rely on only the record before them”, and that there was “more evidence – perhaps better evidence” that the government had that would be used at trial.
In granting Mr Comey’s defence team access to all grand jury materials, Judge Fitzpatrick also ordered the justice department to hand over complete audio recordings of the proceedings.
“The court recognises this is an extraordinary remedy,” Judge Fitzpatrick said. “Under these unique circumstances [it] is necessary to fully protect the rights of the accused.”
