Karen Jones

As I wait for transcript of today’s hearing, here’s some reporting by NYT about Faruqui’s crash out in DC courthouse today: “In an emotional, hourlong address from the bench in Federal District Court in Washington, the magistrate judge, Zia M. Faruqui, said that the case against the former officials — Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides — was a rushed, political prosecution ordered by the White House intended to affect the upcoming midterm elections. ‘I am deeply troubled by what happened here in this case,’ Judge Faruqui said. ‘What has transpired here cannot be described as anything other than weaponization.’ During his speech, Judge Faruqui dismantled almost every aspect of the government’s case. He pointed out that most of the false statements the two defendants were charged with making were not actually false, that none of the false statements were made knowingly and that none of them had any material effect on the congressional investigation which they were called upon to assist. ‘That is not probable cause,’ he said over and over.”