The grand jury that interim U.S. attorney Lindsey Halligan convened when seeking to charge former FBI Director James Comey never reviewed a complete copy of the final indictment against him, Justice Department lawyers disclosed in court on Wednesday.
The revelation came during a motion hearing at a federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, as Comey seeks to have the charges of lying to Congress and obstructing justice dismissed. Comey claims he is being vindictively and selectively prosecuted by President Donald Trump and his yes-men at the Justice Department, like Attorney General Pam Bondi, because of the president’s longstanding and very public animosity toward him. Comey further contends that Halligan was never lawfully appointed to the attorney role.
According to CNN, federal prosecutors told Judge Michael Nachmanoff Wednesday that after the grand jury failed to approve of all counts against Comey, Halligan merely brought the grand jurors an altered version of that indictment, not a new one.
Michael Dreeben, an attorney for Comey, said this indicated “no indictment was returned” and that the statute of limitations to charge Comey had already run out.
The judge told prosecutors they have until 5 p.m. to enter a response onto the docket explaining why Halligan failed to present the grand jury with complete and full charges against Comey.
