监督前美国联邦调查局导演詹姆斯·科米的联邦法官刑事案件周一批准了联邦检察官的一项请求，阻止治安法官的命令，该命令要求他们将大陪审团的证据移交给科米的律师。
周一早些时候，美国地区法官威廉·菲茨帕特里克(William Fitzpatrick)下令特朗普政府交出特朗普任命的美国检察官林赛·哈利根(Lindsey Halligan)9月份大陪审团陈述的完整文字记录和录音，他说其中包括她可能犯下“可能损害大陪审团程序完整性的根本性法律错误”的情况。
Fitzpatrick对他所谓的“一种令人不安的深刻调查失误模式”表示震惊，这种模式可能已经不可逆转地玷污了对詹姆斯·科米的起诉，并侵犯了这位前美国联邦调查局导演的宪法权利，他在一份措辞严厉的意见中允许科米的律师接触大陪审团的大量证据。
Fitzpatrick在他的裁决中写道，“法院认识到辩护方寻求的救济很少得到批准。然而，记录指出了一个令人不安的模式，即严重的调查失误，这些失误导致一名美国联邦调查局特工和一名检察官潜在地破坏了大陪审团程序的完整性。”
美国地区法官迈克尔·纳克曼诺夫(Michael Nachmanoff)在周一晚上发布的暂缓令中表示，他将让政府在美国东部时间周三下午5点之前对菲茨帕特里克法官的命令提出异议，并将美国东部时间周五下午5点定为科米律师做出回应的最后期限。
这场争端可能会成为周三在弗吉尼亚州亚历山大市举行的口头辩论的一个特点，因为Nachmanoff考虑了科米律师的请求，即在审判前撤销对这位前美国联邦调查局导演的起诉，理由是他受到了特朗普政府的恶意起诉。
科米不服罪10月，在批评者所谓的特朗普的指责中，他被控一项虚假陈述和一项妨碍国会诉讼的罪名，该诉讼与他2020年在参议院司法委员会的证词有关报复运动对抗他的政敌。
特朗普钦点的弗吉尼亚州东区联邦检察官哈利根寻求起诉科米职业检察官的反对意见特朗普之后被迫离开有消息称，前美国司法部长埃里克·西伯特(Erik Siebert)拒绝对科米和纽约司法部长莱蒂夏·詹姆斯(Letitia James)提起诉讼。没有检察官经验的哈利根在特朗普在社交媒体上呼吁司法部长帕姆·邦迪(Pam Bondi)之后寻求起诉“现在就行动!!!"起诉科米和纽约司法部长莱蒂夏·詹姆斯。
菲茨帕特里克在周一的裁决中写道，“应政府要求审查大陪审团的材料，法院已经确定了检察官对大陪审团的两份陈述，从表面上看似乎是对法律的根本性错误陈述可能会损害大陪审团程序的公正性。"
另外，法官表示担心，根据政府移交的材料，哈利根最终在公开法庭上提交的起诉书可能没有经过大陪审团的陈述或审议，大陪审团最初驳回了她寻求的三项指控中的一项。
“如果这个程序没有发生，那么法院就处于未知的法律领域，因为在公开法庭上返回的起诉书不是提交给大陪审团并由大陪审团审议的同一份指控文件，”菲茨帕特里克说。
“无论如何，这一系列不寻常的事件，仍然没有得到检察官声明的充分解释，令人质疑通常与大陪审团程序相关的规律性假设，并提供了另一个真正的问题，辩方可能会提出质疑政府获得起诉书的方式，”法官写道。
Judge in Comey case blocks order mandating DOJ hand over grand jury evidence
The federal judge overseeing former FBI Director James Comey'scriminal caseon Monday granted a request from federal prosecutors to block a magistrate judge's order that mandated they hand over a trove of grand jury evidence to Comey's attorneys.
The Justice Department requested the stay earlier Monday after U.S. District Judge William Fitzpatrick ordered the Trump administration to turn over a full transcript and recording of the September grand jury presentation by Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, which he said included instances where she may have made "fundamental misstatements of the law that could compromise the integrity of the grand jury process."
Fitzpatrick expressed alarm at what he called "a disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps" that may have irreversibly tainted the prosecution of James Comey and violated the former FBI director's constitutional rights, in a scathing opinion granting Comey's attorneys access to a vast trove of grand jury evidence.
Fitzpatrick, in his ruling, wrote that, "The Court recognizes that the relief sought by the defense is rarely granted. 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."
In his order issuing the stay on Monday evening, U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff said he would give the government until 5 p.m. ET Wednesday to file objections to Judge Fitzpatrick's order, and set a 5 p.m. ET Friday deadline for Comey's attorneys to file a response.
The dispute is likely to be a feature of oral arguments already set for Wednesday in Alexandria, Virginia, as Nachmanoff considers a request from Comey's attorneys to have the former FBI director's indictment tossed before trial on the basis he was vindictively prosecuted by the Trump administration.
Comeypleaded not guiltyin October to one count of false statements and one count of obstruction of a congressional proceeding related to his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2020, amid what critics call Trump'scampaign of retributionagainst his perceived political foes.
Halligan, Trump's handpicked U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, sought the indictment of Comey over theobjections of career prosecutorsafter Trumpforced outprevious U.S. attorney Erik Siebert who sources said had resisted bringing cases against Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Halligan, who had no experience as a prosecutor, sought the indictment after Trump, in a social media post, called on Attorney General Pam Bondi toact "NOW!!!"to prosecute Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Fitzpatrick, in Monday's ruling, wrote, "Having been requested by the government to review the grand jury materials, the Court has identified two statements by the prosecutor to the grand jurors that on their face appear to befundamental misstatements of the law that could compromise the integrity of the grand jury process."
Separately, the judge raised concerns that based on materials handed over by the government, it appears the indictment that Halligan ultimately returned in open court may not have been presented or deliberated on by the grand jury, which initially rejected one of the three charges she had sought.
"If this procedure did not take place, then the Court is in uncharted legal territory in that the indictment returned in open court was not the same charging document presented to and deliberated upon by the grand jury," Fitzpatrick said.
"Either way, this unusual series of events, still not fully explained by the prosecutor's declaration, calls into question the presumption of regularity generally associated with grand jury proceedings, and provides another genuine issue the defense may raise to challenge the manner in which the government obtained the indictment," the judge wrote.
