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Federal Judge Says Trump's Handpicked Attorney May Have 'Tainted' Case Against Comey With False Statements
"I have never seen a more scathing opinion, with this many errors, in any criminal case I have ever covered," said one legal reporter.
Nov 17, 2025
The attorney handpicked to prosecute President Donald Trump's enemies may have "tainted the grand jury proceedings" against former FBI Director James Comey by making multiple false statements, said a federal judge Monday.
In a 24-page ruling, Federal Magistrate Judge William E. Fitzpatrick said that the Department of Justice (DOJ) engaged in a “disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps” when moving to secure the indictment of the former FBI director in September, following a direct order from Trump to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
As a result, Fitzpatrick granted what he called an "extraordinary remedy," requiring all grand jury materials in the case, including audio recordings of the grand jury proceedings, to be made available to the defense. Typically, information from a grand jury indictment is kept secret until it is revealed at trial. But Fitzpatrick said the "unique circumstances" made it necessary to release it "to fully protect the rights of the accused."
The most glaring of these missteps were made by Lindsey Halligan, the interim US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Despite being a former insurance lawyer who'd never prosecuted a criminal case, she singlehandedly brought the indictment before the grand jury, which accused Comey of lying to the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2020 about whether he authorized someone at the FBI to serve as an anonymous source in news reports regarding the bureau's investigation of Hillary Clinton.
Despite her lack of experience, Halligan—a former contestant in one of Trump's beauty pageants—was plucked from obscurity to serve as the interim US attorney for Comey's home district after Trump pushed out her predecessor, who refused to bring charges against Comey due to lack of evidence.
Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, another of Trump's enemies who Halligan has brought charges against, last week successfully got a different judge to hear their argument that Halligan was unlawfully appointed to her position.
Fitzpatrick said his decision to open up grand jury materials in the Comey case came in part because of two "fundamental misstatements of the law" made by Halligan, that he said "could compromise the integrity of the grand jury process" and potentially rise to the level of "misconduct."
Halligan asserted that Comey did not have the Fifth Amendment right not to testify, which Fitzpatrick wrote “ignores the foundational rule of law that if Mr. Comey exercised his right not to testify, the jury could draw no negative inference from that decision."
He also said that a separate statement made by Halligan, which remains redacted, "may have reasonably set an expectation in the minds of the grand jurors that rather than the government bear the burden to prove Mr. Comey's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial, the burden shifts to Mr. Comey to explain away the government's evidence."
Fitzpatrick said the prosecutor also made the highly unusual argument that the grand jury did not have to rely solely on evidence presented in the government's indictment—which was a measly page-and-a-half long—to determine probable cause. Instead, Fitzpatrick said, Halligan suggested the jury "could be assured the government had more evidence–perhaps better evidence–that would be presented at trial."
That interpretation aligns with the criticism Fitzpatrick voiced at a hearing earlier this month, calling out the Trump DOJ's “indict first, investigate later” approach to these political prosecutions.
Fitzpatrick further suggested that Halligan and the DOJ violated the Fourth Amendment by relying on evidence sourced from FBI search warrants executed in 2019 and 2020 during a separate case against one of Comey's former attorneys, Daniel Richman, whom the indictment alleged was the source Comey authorized to speak to the media.
"Under long-standing Fourth Amendment precedent," Fitzpatrick wrote, "the government may search for and seize only those materials expressly authorized by the terms of a search warrant issued in connection with specific predicate offenses."
Fitzpatrick also wrote that an FBI agent called to testify before the grand jury may have exposed information subject to attorney-client privilege between Comey and Richman, which he called a "highly irregular and a radical departure from past DOJ practice."
"I have never seen a more scathing opinion, with this many errors, in any criminal case I have ever covered," said Sarah Lynch, who covers the DOJ for Reuters.
The order may result in the case being thrown out of court entirely before even getting to trial, and the DOJ would be unable to bring it again, with or without prejudice, as the statute of limitations has expired.
If it is found that Halligan was improperly appointed to her position, the case would also fall apart since she was the only attorney who signed the indictment, though Bondi has retroactively claimed she reviewed the document even though she never signed it. It would also potentially derail the case against James.
MSNBC legal analyst Glenn Kirschner said that "given today’s ruling... it’s becoming increasingly difficult to see how the indictment does not get dismissed."
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Ethics Officials Ousted Amid Probe of Trump Ally's Access to Mortgage Files
The fired members of the Federal Housing Finance Agency's internal watchdog were looking into complaints that Director Bill Pulte and his team improperly pulled records of Democratic officials.
Nov 12, 2025
Watchdogs at the government-sponsored home loan company popularly known as Fannie Mae were fired as they investigated whether a close ally of President Donald Trump improperly accessed mortgage files of Democratic officials targeted for political retribution by the president, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
People familiar with the matter told the Journal that the fired ethics team members were looking into complaints that Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte and his team improperly directed staff to access mortgage records of New York Attorney General Letitia James and other Democratic officials.
The anonymous officials said that ethics team leader Suzanne Libby and her staffers were fired shortly after Fannie Mae management ordered them to stop investigating a company executive close to Pulte, effectively clearing out the company's internal watchdogs.
This, days after Reuters reported that Joe Allen, the FHFA's acting inspector-general, was being removed from his position. Three unnamed sources told Reuters that Allen's removal came as he was preparing to notify congressional lawmakers that the FHFA was not cooperating with his office.
Pulte has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to a pro-Trump super political action committee and has been described as the president's "attack dog" after his team pulled property records of Democrats including James, Sen. Adam Schiff of California, and Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook.
James successfully sued Trump and his business organization for fraud. Schiff was the lead manager in the first of the president's two House impeachments.
Interim US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Lindsey Halligan—who was hand-picked by Trump—indicted James after her predecessor, Erik Seibert, refused to do so, citing a lack of evidence. On Tuesday, the Campaign for Accountability, a watchdog group, filed a complaint with the bar associations of Florida and Virginia accusing Halligan of possible ethics violations in connection with the charges against James and former FBI Director James Comey, who oversaw a probe into alleged pro-Trump interference in the 2016 presidential election by Russia.
Pulte said last month that he fired dozens of Fannie Mae staffers as part of the Trump administration's attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. On Monday, the company fired at least 200 additional employees, according to the Washington Post.
As the Post noted:
Pulte’s actions and unpredictable policymaking style have also sown uncertainty and undermined confidence in him from those across the housing finance industry at a crucial moment. The Trump administration is looking to take Fannie and Freddie [Mac]—under government control since the 2008 housing crisis—public through what it says would be the largest public offering in history. Pulling that off would require a full-throated endorsement from major banks, investors, lenders, and the financial markets. But multiple industry figures and housing finance experts say Pulte’s time in office, and the recent firings of top Fannie officials, is eroding their faith in the firms’ futures.
If Pulte or others are found to have improperly accessed mortgage records, they could possibly face charges under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which prohibits intentionally accessing electronic files without authorization or exceeding authorized access, especially for protected computers including those handling financial data at Fannie Mae.
News of the ethics team firings came as Fannie Mae is under scrutiny for announcing its lifting of the 620 minimum credit score requirement for borrowers seeking loans that will be sold to the company, and as Trump and Pulte float the possibility of 50-year residential mortgages. Critics point to the 2008-09 financial crash—caused largely by a real estate bubble fueled by risky lending practices—and the possibility of lifelong indebtedness resulting from such lengthy loans as cause for alarm.
Pulte is an heir to the fortune amassed by his grandfather, Pulte Homes founder William J. Pulte. The company, now known as PulteGroup, is currently the nation's third-largest homebuilder.
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Watchdog Files Bar Complaint Against Trump Prosecutor on Comey, James Cases
Along with "vindictively" harming the defendants, the group leader said, Lindsey Halligan "is singlehandedly undermining—maybe irrevocably—the public's confidence in the impartiality of the Department of Justice."
Nov 11, 2025
As former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James work to have the criminal charges against them dismissed, a watchdog group on Tuesday filed a bar complaint against Lindsey Halligan, who is spearheading the cases as interim US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
The Campaign for Accountability (CfA) sent the complaint to the Florida Bar and the Virginia Bar, which both have jurisdiction because Halligan is a Florida-licensed lawyer practicing in Virginia. She previously served as a defense attorney for President Donald Trump, and before her current job, she had no prosecutorial experience.
In September, shortly after Halligan took over for Erik Siebert, who declined to bring charges against Comey or James, the ex-FBI director was charged with lying to Congress—and Trump vowed that "there'll be others." In early October, James—who successfully prosecuted Trump for financial crimes before his second term—was indicted for mortgage fraud. Critics argue both cases are part of the administration's broader effort to punish the president's "enemies."
The CfA complaint outlines how Halligan may have violated Virginia's rules for attorneys that require candor to the court and competence, and prohibit extrajudicial statements, the prosecution of a charge the prosecutor knows is not supported by probable cause, and conduct involving dishonesty, deceit, misrepresentation, or conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice.
"We are asking the Virginia and Florida bars to investigate, making clear that a government appointment is not a hall pass for unethical behavior."
In addition to violating the Virginia and Florida rules for lawyers, Halligan may have violated her oath to "support the Constitution of the United States" and to "faithfully discharge the duties of the office of attorney and counselor at law," the document explains. "More generally, Ms. Halligan's actions appear to constitute an abuse of power and serve to undermine the integrity of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and erode public confidence in the legal profession and the fair administration of justice."
Along with laying out Halligan's actions in the Comey and James cases, the complaint notes her related correspondence on the messaging application Signal with Lawfare's Anna Bower, which the journalist reported on in detail.
"Ms. Halligan's actions with respect to the prosecution of Mr. Comey and Ms. James, and her Signal exchange with Ms. Bower, appear to represent a serious breach of her ethical obligations," the complaint says. "Her conduct undermines the integrity of the DOJ, appears to have violated multiple provisions of the Virginia and Florida rules of professional conduct, and undoubtedly will erode public trust in the legal system if permitted without consequence."
"The committee has a responsibility to stop Ms. Halligan from abusing her position and her Florida bar license for improper purposes," the document stresses. "Failing to discipline Ms. Halligan under these egregious circumstances will embolden others who would use our system of justice for their own political ends."
"Campaign for Accountability respectfully requests that the Committees in both states conduct a thorough investigation into these allegations, determine if any violation occurred and, if so, impose appropriate disciplinary measures," the complaint concludes.
The group's executive director, Michelle Kuppersmith, said in a statement that "it is difficult to overstate the damage wrought by Ms. Halligan's actions. In addition to unjustly and vindictively inflicting direct personal harm on Mr. Comey and Ms. James, she is singlehandedly undermining—maybe irrevocably—the public's confidence in the impartiality of the Department of Justice."
"Ms. Halligan appears to have violated numerous rules of professional conduct for lawyers," she added. "We are asking the Virginia and Florida bars to investigate, making clear that a government appointment is not a hall pass for unethical behavior."
CBS News noted that while Halligan and the DOJ did not respond to requests for comment on the complaint, Attorney General Pam Bondi publicly praised her the week that Comey was indicted, writing on social media: "This was a big week at the Department of Justice. Our EDVA US Attorney Lindsey Halligan did an outstanding job. We will continue to fight for accountability, fairness, and the rule of law because the American people deserve nothing less."
Bondi, also of Florida, has faced her own bar complaint—filed in June by Democracy Defenders Fund, Lawyers Defending American Democracy, Lawyers for the Rule of Law, and dozens of individual attorneys, law professors, and former judges, who collectively accused her of engaging in "serious professional misconduct that threatens the rule of law and the administration of justice.”
In the wake of another prosecutor charging Trump’s ex-adviser John Bolton, Reuters/Ipsos polling published late last month showed that a majority of American adults think the Republican president is using US law enforcement "to go after his enemies."
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