Virginia
Judge in Comey case scolds prosecutors as he orders them to produce files from probe
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday ordered prosecutors in the criminal case of former FBI Director James Comey to produce a trove of materials from the investigation, saying he was concerned that the Justice Department’s position had been to “indict first and investigate later.”
Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick instructed prosecutors to produce by the end of the day on Thursday grand jury materials as well as other evidence that investigators seized during the investigation. The order followed arguments in which Comey’s attorneys said they were at a disadvantage because they had not been able to review materials that were gathered years ago.
Comey is charged with lying to Congress in 2020 in a case filed days after President Donald Trump appeared to urge his attorney general to prosecute the former FBI director and other perceived political enemies. He has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers have argued that it’s a vindictive prosecution brought at the direction of the Republican president and must be dismissed.
At issue at Wednesday’s hearing were communications seized by investigators who in 2019 and 2020 executed search warrants of devices belonging to Daniel Richman, a Columbia University law professor and close friend of Comey who had also served as a special government employee at the FBI.
Richman factors into the case because prosecutors say Comey had encouraged him to engage with reporters about matters related to the FBI and that Comey therefore to Congress when he denied having authorized anyone at the FBI to serve as an anonymous source. But Comey’s lawyers say he was explicitly responding to a question about whether he had authorized former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe to serve as an anonymous source.
Comey’s lawyers told the judge they had not reviewed the materials taken from Richman and thus could not know what information was privileged.
“We’re going to fix that, and we’re going to fix that today,” the judge said.
Iowa
Powerful judge charged with OWI after witnesses say she drove wrong way on highway
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A powerful Iowa judge has been charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated after witnesses say she drove the wrong way on a highway Tuesday night while passed out behind the wheel.
Adria Kester, chief judge of the state’s Second Judicial District, was released from the Boone County Jail on Wednesday morning, court records show.
A criminal complaint said motorists called 911 after 8 p.m. on Tuesday night to report a truck slowly driving eastbound in the westbound lanes on U.S. Highway 30 near Boone. One of the witnesses reported the driver looked unconscious and slumped over the steering wheel, and drove into the highway median.
The complaint said a witness got out of their vehicle to check on the driver but could not open the door, and the vehicle was still slowly moving in the median. The witness told police she had to climb in the back window to put the 2026 GMC Canyon Denali truck in park and shut it off.
A deputy with the Boone County sheriff’s office said he found Kester in the driver’s seat appearing to be heavily intoxicated and unsteady. He wrote that Kester, 55, of nearby Ogden, could not walk on her own and was assisted to an ambulance for treatment.
After she was cleared by medical services, Kester still could not walk and refused to answer whether she would be willing to undergo field sobriety testing, according to the complaint. The deputy wrote in the complaint that he also determined it would not be safe to conduct those tests given her condition.
A warrant was issued to obtain a sample of Kester’s blood at the Boone County Hospital. She was arrested for first offense operating while intoxicated and booked into jail around 4 a.m. The complaint doesn’t reveal the result of any testing.
Steve Davis, a spokesperson for the Iowa Judicial Branch, said the seven-member Judicial Qualifications Commission investigates allegations of misconduct by Iowa judges, and can recommend the retirement, discipline or removal of a judicial officer to the Iowa Supreme Court.
A judge ordered Kester released without bond after an initial court appearance Wednesday morning. The judge also ordered her to submit to a substance abuse evaluation and follow any recommendations for treatment in the next 30 days.
Iowa Chief Justice Susan Christensen appointed Kester chief judge in the district, which includes 22 counties in northern and central Iowa and is the largest geographically in the state, in December 2022. In that role, Kester supervises hundreds of judges and court employees in the district and presides over cases.
Kester had been appointed as a district judge by Gov. Kim Reynolds in 2017 after serving as a prosecutor and criminal defense lawyer.
Kester’s judicial position quickly complicated the criminal proceedings against her.
One district associate judge recused herself from the case Wednesday due to her “professional relationship” with Kester. Christensen later signed an order requiring that a judge from another district be appointed to handle the case. Judge Gregory Brandt was later designated.
The Boone County Attorney’s Office also cited a conflict in asking the court to appoint the Polk County Attorney’s Office as a special prosecutor.
California
Republicans sue over new U.S. House map
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Republicans filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday to block a new U.S. House map that California voters decisively approved at the ballot.
Proposition 50, backed by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, is designed to help Democrats flip as many as five congressional House seats in the midterm elections next year. The lawsuit claims the map-makers illegally used race as a factor to favor Hispanic voters, and asks the court to block the new boundaries ahead of the 2026 elections. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
The lawsuit was filed by The Dhillon Law Group, the California-based firm started by Harmeet Dhillon, who is now an assistant attorney general for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Justice.
“The map is designed to favor one race of California voters over others,” Mike Columbo, whose plaintiffs include a state Republican lawmaker and 18 other voters, said at a news conference Wednesday.
Republicans have filed multiple lawsuits in California to block Democrats’ plan with little success so far.
Judge in Comey case scolds prosecutors as he orders them to produce files from probe
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday ordered prosecutors in the criminal case of former FBI Director James Comey to produce a trove of materials from the investigation, saying he was concerned that the Justice Department’s position had been to “indict first and investigate later.”
Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick instructed prosecutors to produce by the end of the day on Thursday grand jury materials as well as other evidence that investigators seized during the investigation. The order followed arguments in which Comey’s attorneys said they were at a disadvantage because they had not been able to review materials that were gathered years ago.
Comey is charged with lying to Congress in 2020 in a case filed days after President Donald Trump appeared to urge his attorney general to prosecute the former FBI director and other perceived political enemies. He has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers have argued that it’s a vindictive prosecution brought at the direction of the Republican president and must be dismissed.
At issue at Wednesday’s hearing were communications seized by investigators who in 2019 and 2020 executed search warrants of devices belonging to Daniel Richman, a Columbia University law professor and close friend of Comey who had also served as a special government employee at the FBI.
Richman factors into the case because prosecutors say Comey had encouraged him to engage with reporters about matters related to the FBI and that Comey therefore to Congress when he denied having authorized anyone at the FBI to serve as an anonymous source. But Comey’s lawyers say he was explicitly responding to a question about whether he had authorized former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe to serve as an anonymous source.
Comey’s lawyers told the judge they had not reviewed the materials taken from Richman and thus could not know what information was privileged.
“We’re going to fix that, and we’re going to fix that today,” the judge said.
Iowa
Powerful judge charged with OWI after witnesses say she drove wrong way on highway
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A powerful Iowa judge has been charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated after witnesses say she drove the wrong way on a highway Tuesday night while passed out behind the wheel.
Adria Kester, chief judge of the state’s Second Judicial District, was released from the Boone County Jail on Wednesday morning, court records show.
A criminal complaint said motorists called 911 after 8 p.m. on Tuesday night to report a truck slowly driving eastbound in the westbound lanes on U.S. Highway 30 near Boone. One of the witnesses reported the driver looked unconscious and slumped over the steering wheel, and drove into the highway median.
The complaint said a witness got out of their vehicle to check on the driver but could not open the door, and the vehicle was still slowly moving in the median. The witness told police she had to climb in the back window to put the 2026 GMC Canyon Denali truck in park and shut it off.
A deputy with the Boone County sheriff’s office said he found Kester in the driver’s seat appearing to be heavily intoxicated and unsteady. He wrote that Kester, 55, of nearby Ogden, could not walk on her own and was assisted to an ambulance for treatment.
After she was cleared by medical services, Kester still could not walk and refused to answer whether she would be willing to undergo field sobriety testing, according to the complaint. The deputy wrote in the complaint that he also determined it would not be safe to conduct those tests given her condition.
A warrant was issued to obtain a sample of Kester’s blood at the Boone County Hospital. She was arrested for first offense operating while intoxicated and booked into jail around 4 a.m. The complaint doesn’t reveal the result of any testing.
Steve Davis, a spokesperson for the Iowa Judicial Branch, said the seven-member Judicial Qualifications Commission investigates allegations of misconduct by Iowa judges, and can recommend the retirement, discipline or removal of a judicial officer to the Iowa Supreme Court.
A judge ordered Kester released without bond after an initial court appearance Wednesday morning. The judge also ordered her to submit to a substance abuse evaluation and follow any recommendations for treatment in the next 30 days.
Iowa Chief Justice Susan Christensen appointed Kester chief judge in the district, which includes 22 counties in northern and central Iowa and is the largest geographically in the state, in December 2022. In that role, Kester supervises hundreds of judges and court employees in the district and presides over cases.
Kester had been appointed as a district judge by Gov. Kim Reynolds in 2017 after serving as a prosecutor and criminal defense lawyer.
Kester’s judicial position quickly complicated the criminal proceedings against her.
One district associate judge recused herself from the case Wednesday due to her “professional relationship” with Kester. Christensen later signed an order requiring that a judge from another district be appointed to handle the case. Judge Gregory Brandt was later designated.
The Boone County Attorney’s Office also cited a conflict in asking the court to appoint the Polk County Attorney’s Office as a special prosecutor.
California
Republicans sue over new U.S. House map
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Republicans filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday to block a new U.S. House map that California voters decisively approved at the ballot.
Proposition 50, backed by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, is designed to help Democrats flip as many as five congressional House seats in the midterm elections next year. The lawsuit claims the map-makers illegally used race as a factor to favor Hispanic voters, and asks the court to block the new boundaries ahead of the 2026 elections. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
The lawsuit was filed by The Dhillon Law Group, the California-based firm started by Harmeet Dhillon, who is now an assistant attorney general for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Justice.
“The map is designed to favor one race of California voters over others,” Mike Columbo, whose plaintiffs include a state Republican lawmaker and 18 other voters, said at a news conference Wednesday.
Republicans have filed multiple lawsuits in California to block Democrats’ plan with little success so far.
