Judge ruled DoJ engaged in ‘profound investigative missteps’ on way to indicting the former FBI director
Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick ruled on Monday that the justice department engaged in a “disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps” on its way to indicting Comey. The federal judge directed prosecutors to produce to defense lawyers all grand jury materials from the case.
Fitzpatrick wrote that problems include “fundamental misstatements of the law” by a prosecutor to a grand jury that indicted Comey in September, the use of potentially privileged communications in the investigation and unexplained irregularities in the transcript of the grand jury proceedings.
“The Court recognizes that the relief sought by the defense is rarely granted,” Fitzpatrick wrote, adding: “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.”
This is worth a read. The prosecutor literally tried to imply that pleading the 5th is evidence of guilt to the jury. The judge shoulda thrown him out of court immediately
That should be grounds for discipline, but IME, you have to piss off a disciplinary board personally to ever see consequences for attorney misconduct.
Yes, but if Rudy Giuliani’s disbarment is evidence of anything, brazenly defrauding the legal system for political purposes can have that effect. Much like Comey’s claim being one that rarely succeeds, I think we’re in the realm of possibility where rare things may well happen
Yeah Richard Lebowitz is a good example of how many second chances are extended for lawyers, it’s shocking. Leonard French has a series of all of the complaints against him.