The Justice Department moved Thursday to block a federal magistrate judge’s order requiring prosecutors to immediately turn over grand jury materials in the criminal case against former FBI Director James Comey.

U.S. Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick stunned prosecutors Wednesday when he made the rare decision to order them to provide the materials to Comey’s defense team by the end of Thursday, expressing concern that the Department of Justice may have “indicted first and investigated later.”

Comey has pleaded not guilty to charges that he lied to Congress in 2020 about authorizing leaks to the media concerning the Hillary Clinton email investigation and the Trump-Russia probe. His trial is set to begin Jan. 5.

The materials sought by the defense include years-old communications between Comey and Columbia Law School professor Daniel Richman, whom prosecutors say the former FBI chief encouraged to speak anonymously to journalists about bureau matters. Investigators seized the records in 2019 and 2020.

Comey’s attorneys argue those communications, and the handling of them, could show misconduct before the grand jury and support dismissal of the indictment, saying their client is being singled out for political retribution by President Donald Trump.

“For decades the DOJ has maintained the highest standard of ethics,” Comey’s defense team wrote in a recent filing. “This case marks a sharp departure from that tradition.”

Prosecutors, however, say the magistrate judge’s order blew past legal safeguards and must be reversed. In their filing Thursday, the government said the defense must show “particularized and factually based grounds” that something improper occurred in front of the grand jury before any disclosure can be ordered, a burden they say Comey has not met.  

The government also stressed that the matter will now proceed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, warning that Fitzpatrick had prematurely resolved a motion still pending before U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff, the Biden-appointed judge handling the trial.

The DOJ argued the order “exceeds the scope” of the magistrate judge’s delegated authority and was issued without the findings required to pierce grand jury secrecy. It has asked the court to halt the disclosure until full briefing and argument on the defense motion, which is set for early December.

The dispute comes amid heightened political tensions around the case. In a recent Truth Social post cited by prosecutors, Trump called Comey “guilty as hell” and urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to prosecute him, along with New York Attorney General Letitia James and former national security adviser John Bolton, both of whom have since been indicted as well.

Prosecutors insisted Trump’s posts do not translate to political revenge inside the Justice Department.

“The President’s social-media posts are clear on why he thinks the defendant should be prosecuted,” they wrote earlier this week. “He thinks the defendant is ‘guilty as hell.’”

A ruling on the appeal is expected soon as the calendar tightens before the trial early next year.