The indictment of former FBI Director James Comey is deeply problematic. Profession prosecutors didn’t need to contact it with a 10-foot pole however Comey is a political enemy of the president of the USA, so right here we’re. The barebones indictment is conclusory at finest, alleging Comey lied to Congress in 2020, and is is so obscure that it might apply to 2 alternate theories of the case.
The complete prosecution, led by Trump flunky Lindsey Halligan, who I’d check with as deeply unserious if she didn’t wield a lot undeserved energy, has been objectively embarrassing for the federal government. And it’s gotten worse.
Yesterday within the case there was a listening to in entrance of Justice of the Peace Decide William Fitzpatrick over doubtlessly privileged supplies collected in 4 totally different search warrants. And, he was *not* impressed. The protection raised issues that the supplies collected 5+ years in the past have been stale. As reported by ABC Information:
Decide Fitzpatrick appeared to agree with these issues throughout Wednesday’s listening to, as he repeatedly pressed Assistant U.S. Legal professional Tyler Lemons over what supplies the federal government had reviewed and why the disputes over privilege weren’t settled throughout the greater than 5 years that the federal government had these communications in its possession
Fitzpatrick, citing what he described as “uncommon” habits by the Justice Division and the shortly approaching January trial date, ordered the federal government at hand over “all grand jury supplies” associated to its investigations of Comey by Thursday at 5 p.m. ET — an pressing deadline that mirrored Fitzpatrick’s concern over the federal government’s conduct.
Decide Fitzpatrick slammed the federal government’s actions, saying it felt like an “indict first, examine second” scenario.
Properly, to be truthful to the DOJ, the decide’s assertion isn’t fairly correct. You see the federal government *did* examine — a number of occasions! — and people prosecutors determined there wasn’t sufficient proof to indict however the president threw an inadvertently public hissy hit about *not* prosecuting his political enemies and the statute of limitations was about to expire, so we’re left with this blatant miscarriage of justice. However for simplicity’s sake, criticizing the prosecution as “indict first, examine second” will get the job performed.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Legislation, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Considering Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are one of the best, so please join together with her. Be at liberty to e mail her with any ideas, questions, or feedback and comply with her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @[email protected].
