Observers of the indictment against former FBI director James Comey were astounded after interim U.S. attorney Lindsey Halligan revealed in a Virginia court that she didn’t disclose both counts of the indictment to all of the grand jury. The admission – which could lead to the case being thrown out – led to Halligan being thoroughly ridiculed and calls for her to be disbarred.
Halligan admitted that her office only showed the details of the final indictment to two members of the grand jury. But the foreperson signed off as if all grand jury members saw it in full. Comey’s attorney, Michael Dreeben, argued that the admission means that “there is no indictment,” going on to argue that the case was initiated at the behest of President Donald Trump due to his animosity towards Comey. District Court Judge Michael Nachmanoff set a deadline of 5 p.m. for the Department of Justice to respond to the developments.
Former MSNOW host and lawyer Katie Phang posed a question in a BlueSky post based on Halligan’s admission: “OMFG…Did Halligan just gin up a new second indictment, sign it, and present it to the judge???”
The aftereffects shocked legal experts. Former U.S. Attorney Ty Cobb, who served in the first Trump administration, suggested for Halligan and Attorney General Pam Bondi to be disbarred over the gaffe in a Fox News interview.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, political commenter Mike Nellis roasted Halligan and President Donald Trump, who called for the indictment to be made. “The Comey case has been such an embarrassing s–t show for Trump. The grand jury rejected the indictment, so Halligan just had the foreperson sign an altered version. That’s illegal, and it means the case will be easily tossed. Idiots.”
Legal expert Marcy Wheeler opined on BlueSky that the indictment could be tossed as a result. “The indictment almost certainly goes away…Lindsey skipped the critical step of actually presenting charges to the grand jury.”
