Free Republic

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department engaged in a “disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps” in the process of securing an indictment against former FBI Director James Comey, a federal judge ruled Monday in directing prosecutors to produce to defense lawyers all grand jury materials from the case. Those problems, wrote Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick, include “fundamental misstatements of the law” by a prosecutor to the grand jury that indicted Comey in September, the use of potentially privileged communications during the investigation and unexplained irregularities in the transcript of the grand jury proceedings. “The Court recognizes that the relief sought...

federal judge on Tuesday reinstated Cathy Harris, the Democrat chairwoman of the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). “The mission of the MSPB is to “Protect the Merit System Principles and promote an effective Federal workforce free of Prohibited Personnel Practices.”” the agency’s website says. Cathy Harris was appointed to the MSPB in 2021 and her term was set to expire on March 1, 2028, but Trump fired her earlier this month. Judge Rudolph Contreras, an Obama appointee with a history of anti-Trump bias, said Trump’s decision to fire Cathy Harris, a member of an agency in the executive branch, exceeded...

A federal judge held veteran investigative reporter Catherine Herridge in civil contempt on Thursday for refusing to divulge her source for a series of Fox News stories about a Chinese American scientist who was investigated by the FBI but never charged. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper in Washington imposed a fine of $800 per day until Herridge complies, but the fine will not go into effect immediately to give her time to appeal. ... “Herridge and many of her colleagues in the journalism community may disagree with that decision and prefer that a different balance be struck, but she is...