What happened
A federal judge yesterday said the Justice Department had engaged in a “disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps” in securing its indictment of former FBI Director James Comey and ordered federal prosecutors to release the normally secret grand jury records to his defense team. That “extraordinary remedy” was merited, Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick said in his 24-page opinion, because the potential “government misconduct may have tainted the grand jury proceedings” and the broader case.

Who said what
Fitzpatrick’s opinion was a “remarkable rebuke” of acting U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, The New York Times said. An “inexperienced prosecutor,” she had “never worked on a criminal case until she was thrust into the Comey prosecution” after her predecessor was fired for declining to charge Comey and other targets of President Donald Trump’s ire.

Halligan made at least two “fundamental and highly prejudicial” misstatements of the law to the grand jury, Fitzpatrick said, and appeared to have submitted a rewritten indictment she had not presented to the jurors, which would put the case in “uncharted legal territory.” The judge also said the sole witness before the grand jury, an FBI agent “exposed to potentially privileged information,” may have inadvertently shared legally shielded details. 

What next?
Fitzpatrick’s assessment “adds to the mounting possibility that Comey’s case will be dismissed before it goes to trial,” Politico said. In addition to the “procedural flaws” the judge flagged, “Halligan is facing a challenge to the validity of her appointment altogether and could be disqualified from the case.” U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff, who appointed Fitzpatrick to examine the procedural issues, will decide if the Comey case can proceed, and a separate federal judge was expected to rule on the legitimacy of Halligan’s appointment in the coming week.

What happened
President Donald Trump yesterday said the U.S. was going to sell stealth F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, one of several deals he plans to cement with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House this week. The de facto Saudi ruler is arriving today for his first U.S. visit since a 2018 goodwill tour that was undone months later by the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Who said what
“We’ll be selling F-35s” to Saudi Arabia, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. The Saudis have “requested to buy as many as 48” of the advanced warplanes, Reuters said, and Trump’s agreement would “mark a significant policy shift, potentially altering the military balance in the Middle East,” where Israel is the only country with F-35s. 

The U.S. has legally committed to giving Israel a “qualitative military edge” over other countries in the region. But the “looming deal” could also “reduce Washington’s leverage to encourage Saudi Arabia and Israel to normalize relations,” a top Trump goal, The Wall Street Journal said. And there is “long-standing concern” in Washington that F-35 technology “could be stolen by or somehow transferred to China,” Saudi Arabia’s top trading partner, The Associated Press said. 

What next?
The Khashoggi murder made the crown prince an “international pariah for a time,” The New York Times said. But “over the past few years, he has become too powerful for American politicians and chief executives to ignore,” and Trump “could hardly be more welcoming.” All the same, said Semafor’s Matthew Martin, “once the pomp and ceremony of this week’s visit has passed,” Prince Mohammed may struggle to ensure “all the goodwill he has built up in the Trump era survives into future administrations.”