A federal judge on Monday castigated the Justice Department over possible misconduct that could have "tainted" the grand jury proceedings that led to the indictment of Trump foe James Comey.
The big picture: The judge's finding could hand the defense more ammo in its efforts to kill the indictment, which was signed by an interim U.S. attorney with no prosecutorial experience who was hand-picked by President Trump.
- Under the judge's order, Comey's defense team would get to review grand jury materials, something not often allowed.
- But the government filed an emergency motion to stay the order, contending the judge "may have misinterpreted some facts he found when issuing the latest order."
Driving the news: "[T]he 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," Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick wrote in a Monday opinion.
- He questioned whether the government had overstepped by using evidence from a prior search warrant and using materials that could have been privileged to shape the grand jury indictment.
- The judge also expressed concern about whether Lindsey Halligan, the interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, properly presented the final version of the charging document to the grand jury. If she didn't, he wrote, "then the Court is in uncharted legal territory."
- He listed several other potential missteps by the government during the case, saying that grounds "may exist to dismiss the indictment because of a matter that occurred before the grand jury."
Catch up quick: Comey, the former FBI director, was indicted in late September on charges of lying to Congress and obstructing its investigation of the Russia probe.
- The indictment came as the statute of limitations was set to expire and after U.S. attorney Erik Siebert, who had not brought a case against Trump foes Comey or Letitia James, was ousted.
- James and Comey have both argued Halligan was illegally appointed.
What they're saying: Fitzpatrick said the government relied on search warrants from a previous investigation and "[i]nexplicably" did not seek a new warrant for the Comey investigation.
- He said the court recognizes that failing to seek a new warrant is "highly unusual" — but also noted the government would be doing so on crunch time, given the approaching statute of limitations.
What's next: He ordered the Trump administration to hand over the recording of Halligan's grand jury presentation, which he said included statements that appear to be "fundamental misstatements of the law that could compromise the integrity of the grand jury process."
Go deeper: What to know about James Comey and his history with President Trump
