Judge says James Comey indictment may be tainted by ‘profound investigative missteps’

Lindsey Halligan and James Comey AP/Getty Images

A federal judge on Monday scorched the Justice Department’s handling of years-old evidence in its case against former FBI Director James Comey, raising the possibility that the indictment may be tainted.

“The record points to a disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps, missteps that led an FBI agent and a prosecutor to potentially undermine the integrity of the grand jury proceeding,” Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick of the Eastern District of Virginia wrote in an opinion released Monday.

Fitzpatrick’s finding that Comey’s rights may have been violated with the use of the evidence collected in another investigation more than five years ago sets the table for Comey’s team to make a more robust challenge of the indictme