Full grand jury never saw the final indictment handed up against Comey.
Judge won't rule Wednesday, calling issues "too weighty"
From CNN's Holmes Lybrand
Before ending the hearing around 11:30am ET, Judge Michael Nachmanoff said he would not make any ruling Wednesday on whether James Comey is being vindictively prosecuted after the revelation that a full grand jury never saw the final indictment handed up against Comey.
“The issues are too weighty and too complex.”
In a ruling Monday, U.S. Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick, also handling parts of the case, said he had reviewed a transcript of the grand jury proceedings and had questions about whether the full grand jury had reviewed the final two-count indictment that was returned.
The issue arose again on Wednesday when Nachmanoff, the trial judge, pressed the Justice Department about Fitzpatrick’s concerns. After conferring privately with Lindsey Halligan, the hastily appointed and inexperienced prosecutor, Tyler Lemons, a prosecutor in the case, acknowledged that the revised indictment was not shown to all of the grand jurors.
“I was not there, but that is my understanding, your honor,” Lemons told the judge.
Nachmanoff called Halligan to the podium and asked her who was in the courtroom when the final indictment was presented to a magistrate. She said only two grand jurors, including the foreperson, were there.
Comey lawyer Michael Dreeben said the government’s failure to present the final indictment to the entire grand jury is grounds for dismissing the case. He also argued that the statute of limitations for the charged crimes has elapsed without a valid indictment.
More:
https://apnews.com/article/trump-comey-halligan-justice-department-fbi-b14ef29e6a67876cb82d92fa065e37d3
From CNN's Holmes Lybrand
Before ending the hearing around 11:30am ET, Judge Michael Nachmanoff said he would not make any ruling Wednesday on whether James Comey is being vindictively prosecuted after the revelation that a full grand jury never saw the final indictment handed up against Comey.
“The issues are too weighty and too complex.”
In a ruling Monday, U.S. Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick, also handling parts of the case, said he had reviewed a transcript of the grand jury proceedings and had questions about whether the full grand jury had reviewed the final two-count indictment that was returned.
The issue arose again on Wednesday when Nachmanoff, the trial judge, pressed the Justice Department about Fitzpatrick’s concerns. After conferring privately with Lindsey Halligan, the hastily appointed and inexperienced prosecutor, Tyler Lemons, a prosecutor in the case, acknowledged that the revised indictment was not shown to all of the grand jurors.
“I was not there, but that is my understanding, your honor,” Lemons told the judge.
Nachmanoff called Halligan to the podium and asked her who was in the courtroom when the final indictment was presented to a magistrate. She said only two grand jurors, including the foreperson, were there.
Comey lawyer Michael Dreeben said the government’s failure to present the final indictment to the entire grand jury is grounds for dismissing the case. He also argued that the statute of limitations for the charged crimes has elapsed without a valid indictment.
More:
https://apnews.com/article/trump-comey-halligan-justice-department-fbi-b14ef29e6a67876cb82d92fa065e37d3
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