Ex-FBI Director James Comey was narrowly indicted by a grand jury this month, but according to his lawyer the Justice Department is refusing to reveal its evidence against him.
In a court filing Monday, attorney Patrick Fitzgerald accused the DOJ of withholding information involving its charges, citing that Comey and his legal team can't be trusted with it.
The filing states that the government has entered a protective order that blocks Comey from being entrusted with some of the materials that are being used to substantiate his indictment.
"Protective orders addressing the confidentiality and privacy interests of others should not override a defendant’s right to a fair trial," wrote Fitzgerald in the filing.
As the lawyer stated, Comey's extensive history with access to sensitive and classified information proves he's trustworthy.
"Mr. Comey, a Virginia-licensed attorney admitted to practice in the Eastern District of Virginia, is a former United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and later Deputy Attorney General of the United States," the court filing says. "He then became director of the FBI.
"In these positions and others, Mr. Comey has been entrusted with some of the most sensitive and highly guarded information in the country. To assert now that he cannot be trusted with receiving discovery in his case controverts his long career of distinguished government service at the highest levels."
Fitzgerald argued that no one knows more about the facts and the details of the case than Comey, so denying him access to the information surrounding it "places his defense at a severe and unnecessary disadvantage to insist that he be prohibited from possessing Protected Material to be able to review and refer to whenever necessary throughout preparation of his defense."
