Judge Elizabeth C. Wolford this week rejected the arguments of federal prosecutors, who suggested she already had more than enough information to draw conclusions without wasting further time on what they said amounts to a "mini-trial, complete with document production and in-court testimony by prosecutors that would shed no new light on the evidence already before the Court."

Instead, Wolford said there are still basic facts in dispute, particularly concerning the status of three laptops seized during an FBI raid on Morgan's offices in 2018, a determination about a cellphone belonging to one of the defendants' girlfriend, and inconsistencies in statements made by prosecutors to a magistrate judge in 2018.

"I believe there is a need for an evidentiary hearing on the disputes," she said during a telephone status conference. "I believe the record is still unclear."

Morgan's attorneys had asked the judge to reconsider her prior decision to dismiss an earlier indictment because the government was taking too long but to allow prosecutors to refile the charges with a new indictment. The judge had asked both sides to submit letters laying out how a hearing would work and what it would accomplish.

"The record establishes a lack of appropriate supervision, a lack of adequate staffing" in the U.S. Attorney's Office, but "that would not cause me to change my decision," she said.

"What could potentially cause me to change my decision is if I agreed with the defense contentions that the government has intentionally misrepresented the record and has done so with bad faith and intent, and on more than one occasion," she concluded.