A court hearing on Wednesday revealed a significant procedural lapse in the case against former FBI director James Comey, with Justice Department lawyers admitting that the full grand jury never reviewed the final indictment. The Washington Post reports that the "remarkable admission" came as US District Judge Michael Nachmanoff pressed prosecutors about an apparent missing portion of the grand jury transcript and raised questions about the legitimacy of the charges. Originally, the grand jury rejected a three-count indictment, after which prosecutors removed the rejected count and had only the foreperson and a deputy foreperson sign the revised indictment.
The revised indictment was never presented to the full grand jury, which Comey's lawyer Michael Dreeben argued means "there is no indictment Mr. Comey is facing." Assistant US Attorney Tyler Lemons downplayed the issue, insisting the changes were only administrative and the "new indictment wasn't a new indictment," but the judge did not immediately rule on the matter. Dreeben argued that the case should be dismissed with prejudice, which would prevent prosecutors from filing new charges, CBS News reports. He said the statute of limitations for Comey's alleged crimes, including making false statements to Congress, has now elapsed without a valid indictment, reports the AP. The deadline was days away when the indictment was filed.
Comey's attorneys also argued the prosecution is politically motivated, driven by President Trump's alleged vendetta against Comey and other perceived political enemies. They point out that multiple Justice Department teams previously declined to charge Comey, and that Trump replaced a US attorney who refused to indict Comey with Lindsey Halligan, a White House aide lacking prosecutorial experience. The New York Times reports that Lemons, "appearing unnerved under questioning," said he had been instructed not to discuss whether his predecessors had written a memo about why they declined to charge Comey, but he eventually admitted that it existed.
Comey's lawyers also pointed to Trump's frequent criticism of Comey—and his demand, posted on Truth Social days before the indictment, for Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek charges. Nachmanoff said he wouldn't rule immediately on the vindictive prosecution motion because the issues are "too weighty and too complex." Earlier this week, another federal judge had criticized the prosecution for a "disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps" and granted Comey's team access to all grand jury materials—a decision temporarily paused pending further review.
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