Daijiworld Media Network – Washington

Washington, Nov 20: In a startling turn of events, the U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday acknowledged that the full grand jury did not review the final version of the indictment against former FBI Director James Comey — a procedural lapse that legal experts say could jeopardize the entire case.

The rare admission surfaced during a crucial hearing in which Comey’s legal team argued that he is facing a “selective and vindictive prosecution”. U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff of the Eastern District of Virginia grilled prosecutor Tyler Lemons after two other judges pointed out discrepancies in the transcripts of the grand jury proceedings.

At the heart of the controversy are two separate indictments:

one showing that the grand jury indicted Comey on two of three counts, and a second document listing only two counts.

Lemons conceded that a grand jury coordinator had “edited” the first indictment, which was later signed by Lindsey Halligan — the acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Halligan, notably, is a former personal lawyer to former President Donald Trump and had no prior prosecutorial experience.

Judge Nachmanoff pressed further, asking whether the second indictment had been shown to the entire grand jury. “Yes, that is my understanding,” Lemons admitted.

Halligan, who presented the case to the grand jury just days after her appointment, told the court that only the foreperson and one other juror accompanied her when she submitted the second indictment to a magistrate judge. While the foreperson signed the document, she confirmed that the revised indictment was never reviewed by the full grand jury — unlike the original.

This significant procedural breach has now cast a cloud over the Justice Department’s handling of the case and raised the possibility that the indictment against Comey could be dismissed.