Lindsey Halligan Continues to Make a Mockery of the U.S. Judicial System

"After repeated questioning by U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff, prosecutors acknowledged that the final version of the indictment was never presented to the entire grand jury that approved the charges after panel members previously rejected one of the proposed criminal counts. . . . The actions of Lindsey Halligan, the Trump ally serving as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, were in the spotlight during the hearing."

"In a tense but brief exchange, Nachmanoff posed questions directly to Halligan asking her to explain what version of the indictment was presented to the grand jury and who was present. Prosecutors in a Wednesday evening court filing sought to downplay the significance of the technical dispute over the Justice Department's handling of the indictment, arguing that it was not grounds for dismissing Comey's case."

"The filing said the proposed indictment that was shown to the grand jury contained three criminal counts, two of which the panel approved. After the panel declined to indict Comey on one of the charges, prosecutors dropped that count from the indictment, but did not change the language of the other charges when they prepared a subsequent two-count indictment, it said. That version was signed by the jury foreperson but not seen by the full grand jury, prosecutors wrote in their filing."

Prosecutors acknowledged that the final indictment in the James Comey case was never presented to the full grand jury after panel members initially rejected one proposed count. Lindsey Halligan, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, was questioned about which indictment version was shown and who attended. The original proposed indictment contained three counts; the panel approved two and declined one. Prosecutors removed the declined count but did not change the remaining charge language when preparing a two-count indictment. That two-count document was signed by the jury foreperson but not reviewed by the entire grand jury. The Justice Department filing argued the procedural discrepancy did not warrant dismissal of the case.

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