Comey
(Getty
Images)
The indictment
of
former
FBI
Director
James
Comey is
deeply
problematic.
Career
prosecutors
didn’t
want
to
touch
it
with
a
10-foot
pole
but
Comey
is
a
political
enemy
of
the
president
of
the
United
States,
so
here
we
are.
The barebones
indictment
is
conclusory
at
best,
alleging
Comey
lied
to
Congress
in
2020,
and
is
is
so
vague
that
it
could
apply
to
two
alternate
theories
of
the
case.
The
entire
prosecution,
led
by
Trump
flunky
Lindsey
Halligan,
who
I’d
refer
to
as
deeply
unserious
if
she
didn’t
wield
so
much
undeserved
power,
has
been
objectively
embarrassing
for
the
government.
And
it’s
gotten
worse.
Yesterday
in
the
case
there
was
a
hearing
in
front
of
Magistrate
Judge
William
Fitzpatrick
over
potentially
privileged
materials
collected
in
four
different
search
warrants.
And,
he
was
*not*
impressed.
The
defense
raised
concerns
that
the
materials
collected
5+
years
ago
were
stale.
As
reported
by
ABC
News:
Judge
Fitzpatrick
appeared
to
agree
with
those
concerns
during
Wednesday’s
hearing,
as
he
repeatedly
pressed
Assistant
U.S.
Attorney
Tyler
Lemons
over
what
materials
the
government
had
reviewed
and
why
the
disputes
over
privilege
were
not
settled
during
the
more
than
five
years
that
the
government
had
those
communications
in
its
possessionFitzpatrick,
citing
what
he
described
as
“unusual”
behavior
by
the
Justice
Department
and
the
quickly
approaching
January
trial
date,
ordered
the
government
to
hand
over
“all
grand
jury
materials”
related
to
its
investigations
of
Comey
by
Thursday
at
5
p.m.
ET
—
an
urgent
deadline
that
reflected
Fitzpatrick’s
concern
over
the
government’s
conduct.Judge
Fitzpatrick
slammed
the
government’s
actions,
saying
it
felt
like
an
“indict
first,
investigate
second”
situation.
Well,
to
be
fair
to
the
DOJ,
the
judge’s
statement
isn’t
quite
accurate.
You
see
the
government
*did*
investigate
—
multiple
times!
—
and
those
prosecutors
decided
there
wasn’t
enough
evidence
to
indict
but
the
president
threw
an
inadvertently
public
hissy
hit
about
*not*
prosecuting
his
political
enemies
and
the
statute
of
limitations
was
about
to
run
out,
so
we’re
left
with
this
blatant
miscarriage
of
justice.
But
for
simplicity’s
sake,
criticizing
the
prosecution
as
“indict
first,
investigate
second”
gets
the
job
done.
Kathryn
Rubino
is
a
Senior
Editor
at
Above
the
Law,
host
of
The
Jabot
podcast,
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
AtL
tipsters
are
the
best,
so
please
connect
with
her.
Feel
free
to
email
her
with
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments
and
follow
her
on
Twitter
@Kathryn1 or
Mastodon
@[email protected].