(NewsNation) — Interim U.S. attorney Lindsey Halligan told a federal Judge on Wednesday that the full grand jury never reviewed the indictment it handed down to former FBI Director James Comey.
It comes days after a different judge said a transcript he reviewed didn’t show evidence that the full grand jury ever saw the whole indictment. Wednesday, Halligan said only the floor person and one grand juror were present.
It’s the latest revelation that might pose threats to the case, which also has a statute of limitations issue. Since Comey’s comments at the heart of his lying to Congress charge now happened more than five years ago, the government may not be able to refile the case.
Halligan filed the charges just before the five year mark. Comey has been fighting to get her off the case, and for the charges to be dismissed.
Comey’s legal team is also pushing for the case to be thrown out altogether, arguing that he is being targeted by the Trump administration for speaking out against the president. Another judge has accused the Department of Justice of a “disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps” in the case.
John Fishwick, former U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia, told NewsNation that Comey’s legal team will likely face a high threshold to prove their argument.
“It is rare for a judge to dismiss charges early in a case for a vindictive or selective prosecution. Criminal defendants often bring these charges,” Fishwick said. “There will be a lot of dust up today, but I do not expect the charge to be dismissed for this reason.”
In September, Comey was charged with lying to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding. The charges stem from comments he made to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in testimony in September 2020, about the FBI’s handling of the investigation into alleged Russian collusion with the Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election. The indictment alleges Comey knowingly made a false statement to a senator when he testified that he had not “authorized someone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports” regarding an FBI investigation.
President Donald Trump fired Comey during his first term and described that collusion investigation as a hoax and a “witch hunt.”
Comey has pleaded not guilty to the charges. If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison. The DOJ notes in a news release that “sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.”