Wait, what? The grand jury never voted on the revised charges? That sounds bad. Very bad. Disbarment bad.
DOJ admits full grand jury never reviewed final Comey indictment, further imperiling case
The Justice Department on Wednesday admitted that the operative indictment against former FBI Director James Comey was never presented to the full grand jury — a procedural error defense attorneys say should bar the prosecution.
The admission came under sharp questioning from U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff, after several judges overseeing parts of the case had raised concerns about the government’s presentation and an apparent discrepancy in the grand jury record.
Instead of presenting a new indictment to the full panel after it rejected one of the counts, interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan gave the grand jury’s foreperson an updated version — not seen by the other grand jurors — to sign.
Nachmanoff asked the government several times whether he understood correctly that the operative indictment was never shown to the entire panel.
“Yes, that is my understanding,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Tyler Lemons.
He called Halligan up to the lectern to answer additional questions, as she was the only prosecutor who made the government’s case to grand jurors for an indictment.
“Am I correct —” the judge began.
“No, you’re not,” Halligan interrupted, clasping her wrists behind her back.
She said that the grand jury foreperson and a second grand juror were present in the magistrate’s courtroom, recalling the proceeding. The judge said he was familiar with the transcript and directed her to sit down.
Michael Dreeben, an attorney for Comey, told the judge that the apparent error calls for dismissal because “no indictment was returned.”
