A federal judge overseeing the criminal case against former FBI Director James Comey sharply rebuked prosecutors during a heated hearing Wednesday, ordering them to turn over evidence “immediately” to Comey’s defense team, as the former bureau chief faces charges of lying to Congress about leaking investigative information to the press.
U.S. Magistrate Judge William E. Fitzpatrick spent nearly an hour grilling prosecutors inside a northern Virginia courtroom, pressing them on what evidence they’ve already collected — and whether any of it may have violated Comey’s attorney-client privilege.
Central to the dispute are three FBI search warrants executed in 2019 and 2020 under the bureau’s “Arctic Haze” probe, which investigated how classified information from the FBI made its way into the hands of journalists, the New York Post reported.
Defense attorney Rebekah Donaleski argued that federal prosecutors have been withholding key details about what evidence they’re actually using from at least four different warrants — several of which involve Comey’s communications with his longtime friend and attorney, Daniel Richman, a Columbia Law School professor, The Post reported.
