Justice Department's Approach to Comey Case Questioned

In a recent court hearing, a federal judge expressed strong disapproval of the Justice Department's handling of the case against former FBI Director James Comey. The judge, William Fitzpatrick, criticized the prosecutor, Lindsey Halligan, for what he saw as a backward approach: indicting first and investigating later. The issue at hand was the Justice Department's delay in sharing seized communications from Daniel Richman, a Columbia University law professor and Comey's confidant. These communications were obtained during an internal investigation into leaks related to the Russia case in 2016. Comey's legal team argued that without access to these materials, they couldn't properly defend their client. During the hearing, Judge Fitzpatrick grilled one of Halligan's deputies, Nathaniel Lemons, about the recent release of private text exchanges. These texts were meant to portray Richman and Comey in a negative light. The judge was concerned that Comey's legal team hadn't been given a chance to review this material before it was released. Judge Fitzpatrick ordered the prosecutors to hand over all grand jury materials and other evidence related to Richman and Comey by the end of the day on Thursday. He described the case as unusual and expressed his frustration with the government's approach. Comey is accused of lying to and obstructing Congress during his testimony about the Russia investigation and the 2016 Trump presidential campaign. Some prosecutors believe the case is more about political motives than legitimate law enforcement goals. On Monday, federal prosecutors released evidence showing that Comey had used a confidant to provide information to reporters. However, it was unclear how this evidence was directly relevant to the specific charges against Comey. The 48-page filing seemed to be an attempt to create a narrative that Comey had leaked information to the media, but it didn't clearly connect these assertions to the allegations in the indictment.