The Justice Department’s case against former FBI Director James Comey could be in jeopardy after it was revealed in court that the grand jury never read the final indictment.
Lawyers representing the DOJ admitted that the indictment against Comey was never presented to the grand jury before they started prosecution proceedings against him.
From The Hill:
The Justice Department on Wednesday admitted that the operative indictment against former FBI Director James Comey was never presented to the full grand jury — a procedural error defense attorneys say should bar the prosecution.
The admission came under sharp questioning from U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff, after several judges overseeing parts of the case had raised concerns about the government’s presentation and an apparent discrepancy in the grand jury record.
Instead of presenting a new indictment to the full panel after it rejected one of the counts, interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan gave the grand jury’s foreperson an updated version — not seen by the other grand jurors — to sign.
Nachmanoff asked the government several times whether he understood correctly that the operative indictment was never shown to the entire panel.
“Yes, that is my understanding,” Tyler Lemons, an assistant U.S. attorney, said.
President Trump's handpicked U.S. attorney who brought charges against former FBI Director James Comey told a judge that the full grand jury that indicted Comey did not see the final indictment — only the foreperson and another grand juror did.
— ABC News Live (@ABCNewsLive) November 19, 2025
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The DOJ acknowledged that only the foreperson saw the updated indictment before signing it.
This could be a fatal error for the Justice Department’s case against the former FBI Director, who has been a vocal critic of President Donald Trump since 2017. His defense attorneys might successfully use this misstep to invalidate the DOJ’s entire prosecution effort.
🚨BREAKING on MS NOW:
— Lucas Sanders 💙🗳️🌊💪🌈🚺🟧 (@LucasSa56947288) November 19, 2025
The full grand jury never reviewed the indictment it handed up against James Comey.
Prosecutors said that, instead of presenting a new indictment after the grand jury declined to approve one of the counts, Halligan simply brought an altered version for the… pic.twitter.com/tj4KB4rkq4
The defense argued that because no proper indictment was returned, the statute of limitations on the charges against Comey could have already expired. If the court agrees, the judge will dismiss the case and Comey will once again be free to play with seashells at the beach.
Critics of the Trump administration argue that its DOJ is targeting Comey for political reasons. Democrats have seized on this argument, completely ignoring the fact that they had no issue with weaponizing the criminal justice system against Trump to prevent him from being re-elected.