James Comey spent years weaponizing the FBI against Donald Trump.
Now Trump's Justice Department finally caught him red-handed lying to Congress.
But a Democrat judge used this dirty trick to save James Comey's bacon.
Partisan magistrate attacks prosecution with bogus "concerns"
Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick issued a scathing 24-page opinion ordering prosecutors to hand over all grand jury materials to Comey's defense team — a move so rare it immediately raised eyebrows across the legal community.¹
Fitzpatrick claimed he found what he described as "a disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps" in the case brought by interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan.²
The timing couldn't be more suspicious.
Fitzpatrick was appointed as a magistrate judge in May 2022 by a panel of Democrat-appointed district judges in Northern Virginia — the heart of the swamp — after working for years as a federal prosecutor.³
Now he's going out of his way to torpedo the prosecution of one of the Deep State's most protected operatives.
Conservative legal expert Mike Davis didn't mince words about what's happening.
"Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick — appointed by partisan DC-area Democrat judges in 2022 — is going out of his way to carry water for James Comey," Davis wrote on X.⁴
"Fitzpatrick — through his highly irregular ruling — is grasping at straws to make his findings that Lindsey Halligan (somehow) did something wrong. She did not."
Judge fabricates problems that don't exist
Fitzpatrick's opinion reads like a defense attorney's wish list rather than an impartial judicial ruling.
He claimed Halligan made "fundamental misstatements of the law" to the grand jury — but the actual statements are conveniently redacted from his opinion.⁵
How convenient.
The judge also suggested the full grand jury never saw the final two-count indictment after they rejected one of three original counts.⁶
Halligan explained in court that after the grand jury declined one count on September 25, she revised the indictment to reflect only the two approved counts — then presented it to the grand jury foreperson and another juror before submitting it to a magistrate judge.⁷
That's standard procedure.
But Fitzpatrick twisted this routine practice into some kind of constitutional crisis.
"If this procedure did not take place, then the Court is in uncharted legal territory," Fitzpatrick wrote melodramatically in his opinion.⁸
The Justice Department fired back hard in court filings.
"The grand jury in this case did in fact find that probable cause existed to support the crimes charged in the indictment that was returned," prosecutors wrote.⁹
"The grand jury foreperson, as the representative of the Grand Jury, endorsed the revised two count Indictment by signing it and explaining on the record in open Court that the Indictment reflected the vote of the Grand Jury."
Deep State protecting its own
Fitzpatrick also attacked the DOJ for using evidence seized from Comey's friend and Columbia law professor Dan Richman — the same Dan Richman who Comey authorized to leak FBI memos to the media.¹⁰
The judge claimed investigators violated attorney-client privilege when they executed search warrants on Richman's accounts in 2019 and 2020 as part of a media leak investigation.¹¹
But prosecutors weren't investigating Comey's legal relationship with Richman.
They were investigating Comey's use of Richman as an unauthorized FBI source to leak sensitive information to reporters — a clear violation of FBI policy and federal law.
Fitzpatrick's entire opinion reads like he's working backwards from the conclusion that Comey must be protected at all costs.
Davis nailed it when he wrote: "They know the evidence against Comey is damning. He lied to Congress to coverup his clear corruption in politicizing and weaponizing intel agencies and law enforcement to take out political enemies — the biggest scandal in American history."¹²
"So they are doing everything they can to stop Lindsey Halligan. Lindsey Halligan is clearly over the target."
Judge shopping pays off for Comey
The two-count indictment charges Comey with lying to Congress in September 2020 when he claimed under oath he never authorized FBI leaks to the media.¹³
But Comey did exactly that — he authorized Richman to serve as an anonymous source in interactions with reporters about the Clinton email investigation.¹⁴
Senator Ted Cruz grilled Comey about this during his 2020 testimony, and Comey repeatedly denied authorizing any leaks.
That's perjury.
That's obstruction of Congress.
And the grand jury agreed there was probable cause to indict him on both counts.
But now Fitzpatrick has handed Comey's high-powered defense team — which includes Michael Dreeben, a former member of Robert Mueller's Trump-Russia witch hunt — a roadmap for getting the case dismissed.¹⁵
U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff, a Biden appointee overseeing the case, granted prosecutors the opportunity to file objections to Fitzpatrick's order.¹⁶
The Justice Department argued in its filing that Fitzpatrick "misrepresented" Halligan's comments to the grand jury by quoting them out of context.¹⁷
"The magistrate judge asserts that the U.S. Attorney implied Mr. Comey lacked a Fifth Amendment right not to testify. The complete transcript demonstrates the opposite," prosecutors wrote.
"The portion the magistrate judge omitted is dispositive. The U.S. Attorney expressly refocused the grand jury on its limited role and told them not to concern themselves with trial testimony."
Halligan appointment faces separate challenge
Comey's dirty tricks aren't limited to this case.
He and New York Attorney General Letitia James — also indicted by Halligan — are challenging her appointment as unconstitutional.¹⁸
U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie, a Clinton appointee, is weighing whether Halligan was lawfully installed as interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.¹⁹
Currie said she would rule before Thanksgiving.
If Halligan is disqualified, both prosecutions could be in jeopardy.
But even if that happens, the Justice Department has a backup plan.
Federal law allows prosecutors to refile dismissed indictments within six months if they were dismissed after the statute of limitations expired — which is exactly what happened with Comey's case.²⁰
The statute of limitations ran out just days before Halligan secured the indictment in September.
This gives the DOJ a six-month window to cure any technical problems with the indictment and start fresh.
"Lindsey Halligan is clearly over the target," Davis concluded.²¹
"The Justice Department must appeal this fact-free and lawless ruling by Fitzpatrick. The Deep State protects its own."
The masks are off.
The swamp creatures are circling the wagons to protect James Comey from accountability for his lies to Congress and his role in the biggest political scandal in American history.
But Trump's Justice Department isn't backing down.
¹ William E. Fitzpatrick, "Memorandum Opinion," United States v. James B. Comey, November 18, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ "William E. Fitzpatrick appointed U.S. Magistrate Judge," U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, May 9, 2022.
⁴ Mike Davis, post on X, November 18, 2025.
⁵ Fitzpatrick, "Memorandum Opinion."
⁶ Ibid.
⁷ CNN Politics, "Lindsey Halligan says full grand jury never saw final indictment," November 19, 2025.
⁸ Fitzpatrick, "Memorandum Opinion."
⁹ U.S. Department of Justice, "Government's Response to Order," United States v. James B. Comey, November 19, 2025.
¹⁰ Fitzpatrick, "Memorandum Opinion."
¹¹ Ibid.
¹² Mike Davis, post on X, November 18, 2025.
¹³ U.S. Department of Justice, "Indictment," United States v. James B. Comey, September 25, 2025.
¹⁴ Ibid.
¹⁵ ABC News, "Judge in Comey case blocks order mandating DOJ hand over grand jury evidence," November 18, 2025.
¹⁶ Ibid.
¹⁷ U.S. Department of Justice, "Government's Response to Order," November 19, 2025.
¹⁸ NBC News, "Comey and James seek case dismissal, arguing prosecutor was illegally appointed," November 14, 2025.
¹⁹ Ibid.
²⁰ NBC News, "DOJ admits not all grand jury members saw the final version of the indictment against James Comey," November 19, 2025.
²¹ Mike Davis, post on X, November 18, 2025.
