Justice Department insists Comey indictment was properly approved as it
tries to keep case afloat
[November 21, 2025]
By ERIC TUCKER
WASHINGTON (AP) — A day after the Justice Department acknowledged to a
federal judge that the full grand jury had not reviewed the final
indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, the Trump-appointed U.S.
attorney overseeing the case abruptly reversed herself, insisting
Thursday that the panel properly approved the charges as she tried to
contain the fallout from earlier statements that risked imperiling the
prosecution.
The latest statements from Lindsey Halligan, the hastily named interim
U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, represent an attempt
to backtrack on earlier comments the prosecution team made under
persistent questioning from a judge about the seemingly jumbled process
leading to the return of the two-count indictment.
The new court filing, supplemented by a transcript from the September
evening the indictment was returned, is meant to undo any public
perception that the grand jury presentation was botched and that the
case may be jeopardized as a result. It was not clear why some of the
points in Thursday's filing were not raised during Wednesday's hearing,
when prosecutors made clear that the full grand jury did not see the
indictment filed in the case.
Either way, the dueling accounts underscore the irregular nature of the
prosecution against one of President Donald Trump's political opponents
and lay bare the consequences of the Justice Department's decision to
entrust such a consequential case to a lawyer who had no prior
experience as a prosecutor and was appointed to the job days before the
indictment. Halligan replaced an experienced prosecutor who resigned
amid Trump administration pressure to indict Comey and another Trump
foe, New York Attorney General Letitia James, who has also since been
charged by Halligan.
The issue stems from the fact that the Justice Department initially
sought a three-count indictment of Comey. The grand jury rejected one of
the counts but approved two others accusing Comey of making a false
statement and obstructing Congress. Prosecutors then placed the two
remaining charges in a revised indictment but said in court Wednesday
that the full grand jury did not see the final charging document.
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Former FBI Director James Comey speaks during a Senate Intelligence
Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, in Washington, June 8, 2017. (AP
Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
“Let me be clear that the second indictment, the operative
indictment in this case that Mr. Comey faces, is a document that was
never shown to the entire grand jury or presented in the grand jury
room; is that correct?” U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff asked
at one point.
“Standing here in front of you, Your Honor, yes, that is my
understanding,” replied Tyler Lemons, a prosecutor on the case. “I
was not there, but that is my understanding, yes, Your Honor.”
Halligan, who was summoned to the lectern, told Nachmanoff in court
Wednesday that only the grand jury foreperson and another grand
juror were present for the second indictment. In a court filing
later that evening, the Justice Department said the grand jury
coordinator had returned to the grand jury room and presented the
corrected indictment to the grand jury foreperson and the deputy
foreperson.
On Thursday, in a five-page court filing titled “Government's Notice
Correcting the Record,” Halligan sought to downplay any problem with
the presentation, describing the situation as a “clerical
inconsistency” and insisting it was not the case that the full grand
jury never voted on the second indictment.
The filing included a transcript of a conversation involving
Halligan, the grand jury foreperson and the magistrate judge who was
overseeing the return of the indictment.
“So you voted on the one that has the two counts?” the judge asked
at one point, according to the transcript.
“Yes,” replied the foreperson.
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