Judge Orders Release of Grand Jury Materials to Comey’s Lawyers

A federal judge on Monday ordered the Department of Justice to release grand jury materials to attorneys acting on behalf of former FBI Director James Comey as they attempt to scrap a criminal case against him. U.S. Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick wrote in an order that possible errors and “government misconduct” by the team of interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Lindsey Halligan may have imperiled the case against Comey. “The Court recognizes this is an extraordinary remedy, but given the factually based challenges the defense has raised to the government’s conduct and the prospect that government misconduct may have tainted the grand jury proceedings, disclosure of grand jury materials under these unique circumstances is necessary,” Fitzpatrick said in his 24-page opinion, which ordered all material related to the grand jury that indicted the former FBI director in September....