In the lead-up to this afternoon's hearing, both sides made filings in support of their respective positions on the disclosure of grand jury materials.
Comey wants the grand jury materials disclosed; Govt wants the judge to review them in camera. 1/n
Defense believes that irregularities with how the indictment came about, particularly the possibility of an FBI agent giving information to the grand jury that ought to have been shielded by attorney-client privilege protections, warrant the disclosure.
Such a "privilege spill" and/or other irregularities could provide a basis for a motion to dismiss the case.
Prosecution, naturally, argues that the defense is just speculating, though they do acknowledge an FBI agent was pulled from the investigative team after he was exposed to privileged material.
They also spend time arguing that even if there was a Fourth Amendment or privilege violation, it's not grounds to dismiss.
Interestingly, they address whether the grand jury was told of the attorney-client privileged information, which is material they are also seeking a filter team protocol for and is material that the only witness the grand jury heard from, the FBI agent, was exposed to and was later pulled off the case because of that exposure...
By arguing that it WASN'T attorney-client privileged information.
If it's not attorney-client privileged material, then why is it quarantined, and why was that FBI agent pulled from the investigative team attached to the case?
Regardless, the burden under Rule 6(e) is for the defense to produce particularized and factually based grounds for grand jury disclosure, and they argue that burden is not met here.
Instead of turning the material over to the defense, the prosecution requests that the judge review the grand jury testimony in camera and see for himself.
Gov't's filing is here and includes two affidavits from FBI agents, though neither are from the "exposed" agent who testified to the grand jury and may have tainted it.
Last week, Mag. Judge Fitzpatrick denied DOJ's motion for a filter protocol and ORDERED them to turn over to Comey "all materials seized pursuant to the four 2019 and 2020 [Arctic Haze] search warrants," all grand jury material, and more.
DOJ appealed the order to disclose grand jury material.
Judge Nachmanoff DENIED the appeal, finding that "Judge Fitzpatrick’s Order regarding the disclosure of the grand jury materials falls within the matter referred to him..." and remands the matter back to Fitzpatrick for further proceedings.
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Fitzpatrick set a hearing on the issue of disclosure of the grand jury material for today at 4pm.
The @USAO_SDFL "is recruiting prosecutors and restructuring its chain of command in preparation for a grand jury investigation expected to target former Justice Department officials and others involved in cases against President Donald Trump." 1/n
"The exact scope of the grand jury effort—which one of the individuals described as “special counsel oversight”—remains unclear."
I think it's worth providing some background on what's going on here, so I'll start there, but if you want to skip the background, go to post number [21] in this thread for a breakdown of what happened yesterday.
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Background
Nachmanoff is the district judge assigned to this case.
Nachmanoff ordered that all Rule 16 discovery material be provided to the defense by Oct 13.
85k pages of discovery was eventually turned over, but not all of it because...
‘A federal judge on Wednesday ordered prosecutors to turn over key evidence in the criminal case against former FBI Director James Comey, expressing concern that the [DOJ] may have “indicted first and investigated later.”
I have a thread on the motion seeking grand jury materials here
Today, DOJ defended the appointment of Lindsey Halligan as interim U.S. Attorney for EDVA.
In an order signed on Halloween, @AGPamBondi retroactively made Halligan a "Special Attorney, as of September 22, 2025" and gave her the "authority" to conduct legal proceedings in EDVA.
The order also says...
"[S]hould a court conclude that Ms. Halligan's authority as Special Attorney is limited to particular matters, I hereby delegate to Ms. Halligan authority as Special Attorney to conduct and supervise the prosecutions in United States v. Corney (Case No. 1:25-CR-00272) and United States v. James (Case No. 2:25-CR-00122)."
Halligan's appointment is the basis of motions to dismiss in both the James Comey and Letitia James criminal cases.
Judge Cameron McGowan Currie, a senior judge out of South Carolina who isn't assigned either the Comey or James case, is handling the matter.
The above exhibit is attached to the gov't's filing in opposition to the motions to dismiss in both cases.