Washington — The Justice Division’s legal case towards former FBI Director James Comey seems to be on shaky floor as a choose Wednesday repeatedly questioned federal prosecutors in regards to the validity of the indictment returned by a grand jury and the way it was dealt with by interim U.S. Legal professional Lindsey Halligan.
Throughout a listening to on Comey’s bid to have the fees tossed on the grounds his prosecution is vindictive and selective, U.S. District Choose Michael Nachmanoff pressed authorities legal professionals for readability in regards to the occasions that surrounded the grand jury proceedings on Sept. 25, when it voted to indict Comey on two counts associated to testimony he offered to Congress in September 2020. He has pleaded not responsible.
Halligan had mentioned in a declaration filed with the federal courtroom in Alexandria on Friday that after she made her presentation to the grand jury, it deliberated for roughly two hours. Halligan mentioned she was then knowledgeable by her deputy that the grand jury had rejected one depend, however voted to indict Comey on two others.
The indictment was then re-drafted to take away the primary depend, and listed solely the 2 counts that the grand jury authorised, Tyler Lemons, a federal prosecutor engaged on Comey’s case, advised Nachmanoff on Wednesday. Lemons mentioned a grand-jury coordinator advised prosecutors in regards to the final result of the vote.
Choose has questions on second indictment
However Nachmanoff questioned whether or not the second indictment — with solely the 2 costs — had been introduced to the grand jury and voted on, or given straight to a U.S. Justice of the Peace choose. That choose, Lindsey Vaala, presided over the return of the indictment and in addition expressed confusion as to why she was introduced with two paperwork: The indictment with two counts, and a report of the grand jury’s failure to concur in an indictment, which lists three counts.
Lemons mentioned the second indictment was given straight to the choose, and argued it was not a “new” indictment, however had been edited solely to replicate the grand jury’s choice to cost Comey with mendacity to Congress and obstruction of a congressional continuing.
Nachmanoff pressed Lemons additional, asking if the second indictment was by no means proven to your complete grand jury. The prosecutor mentioned that was appropriate. Lemons was not on the proceedings earlier than the grand jury in September. Halligan introduced the case by herself.
Whereas Lemons answered many of the choose’s questions, Halligan briefly appeared earlier than Nachmanoff to inform him that solely the foreperson and one other grand juror have been within the courtroom when the indictment was introduced to the Justice of the Peace choose.
One in every of Comey’s attorneys, Michael Dreeben, mentioned moments later that the Justice Division had simply acknowledged the indictment was by no means introduced to the grand jury and by no means returned.
“There is no such thing as a indictment that Mr. Comey is going through,” Dreeben mentioned, including it is a “threshold foundation” to dismiss the case with prejudice, which might prohibit prosecutors from re-filing costs. He mentioned there needs to be no costs towards his shopper as a result of the five-year statute of limitations for Comey’s alleged offenses has now expired.
Halligan’s presentation earlier than the grand jury and her dealing with of the indictments have puzzled not solely Nachmanoff, however two different judges which have presided over completely different elements of Comey’s legal case, which stays in its early levels.
A Justice Division official advised CBS Information Wednesday night in an announcement that “the Authorities stays dedicated to following the regulation, respecting grand-jury secrecy, and making certain that judicial choices relaxation on info—not assumptions. The Justice of the Peace choose’s order doesn’t meet that normal.”
Earlier listening to raises questions on transcript of Halligan’s grand jury presentation
Throughout a listening to final week on a separate authorized challenge involving Halligan’s appointment as interim U.S. legal professional, U.S. District Choose Cameron Currie raised what she mentioned was a lacking portion of the transcript from the grand jury proceedings.
The choose mentioned it appeared no courtroom reporter was current throughout a part of Halligan’s presentation, or didn’t transcribe the interval at challenge. Halligan later mentioned in her declaration Friday that the lacking portion displays the time when the grand jury was deliberating, which should be completed with out another particular person within the room, together with a courtroom reporter.
“There are not any lacking minutes, opposite to the suggestion raised by the courtroom,” Halligan wrote.
One other choose raises questions on grand jury transcript
However then, on Monday, U.S. Justice of the Peace Choose William Fitzpatrick raised his personal points with the “completeness” of the transcript and the way through which the second indictment was introduced to the grand jury.
Fitzpatrick mentioned the second indictment was new, and he concluded after reviewing the grand-jury transcript that Halligan would’ve introduced it to the grand jury for consideration earlier than it was returned in open courtroom.
“It now seems that will not have occurred,” he wrote.
Citing the timeline that Halligan specified by her submitting, the choose mentioned the brief time span between when she discovered that the grand jury rejected one depend within the preliminary indictment and when she appeared in courtroom to return the second indictment — which is about seven minutes — “couldn’t have been adequate” to draft and signal the second doc, current it to the grand jury, present authorized directions and provides them an opportunity to deliberate and render a choice.
“If the prosecutor is mistaken in regards to the time she obtained notification of the grand jury’s vote on the unique indictment, and this process did happen, then the transcript and audio recording offered to the Court docket are incomplete,” Fitzpatrick wrote in an order. “If this process didn’t happen, then the Court docket is in uncharted authorized territory in that the indictment returned in open courtroom was not the identical charging doc introduced to and deliberated upon by the grand jury.”
He ordered federal prosecutors to show over all grand jury materials to Comey’s protection crew, and criticized the Justice Division for what he described as a “disturbing sample of profound investigative missteps” in its dealing with of the case.
Fitzpatrick wrote that there’s “the prospect that authorities misconduct might have tainted the grand jury proceedings.”
The Justice Division official advised CBS Information Wednesday that “the grand jury transcript — which Justice of the Peace Choose Fitzpatrick learn — speaks for itself. When learn in full, it exhibits no misstatement of regulation, no improper instruction, and no foundation for the extraordinary treatment of breaching grand-jury secrecy. Partial snippets can’t overcome the precise report.”
