In just 24 hours, the Justice Department has done a complete reversal on its position about whether the full grand jury in the James Comey criminal case reviewed the indictment before it was handed up to a federal judge in September.
Lindsey Halligan, the acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, presented the case by herself to the grand jury on Sept. 25. She testified Wednesday that when jurors voted to indict Comey on two of the three counts submitted in the original indictment, the full grand jury hadn’t reviewed a final revised document showing the two counts the former FBI director was charged with. Instead, its viewing was limited to the jury foreperson and an additional grand juror.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tyler Lemons, who is leading the prosecution of Comey, also said the full grand jury hadn’t reviewed the final indictment.
But in a court filing Thursday titled “Government's Notice Correcting the Record," federal prosecutors said the full grand jury did review the final indictment. In doing so, the Justice Department disputed the argument by Comey’s defense team that the indictment was invalid because of the missteps acknowledged in court Wednesday.
“The official transcript of the September 25, 2025, proceedings before Magistrate Judge Vaala conclusively refutes that claim,” prosecutors said in Thursday's filing. Judge Lindsey Vaala presided over the filing of Comey's indictment.
The defense team argued at Wednesday’s hearing that the confusion over the grand jury issue required the judge to throw out the case.
Comey was indicted in September on charges of lying to Congress relating to Senate testimony he gave in 2020. He has pleaded not guilty.
The hearing Wednesday focused on the defense's motion to dismiss the case on the grounds that it is a vindictive and selective prosecution.
Halligan, Trump’s former personal attorney, who has no experience in criminal matters, lashed out at U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff, who is overseeing the case, after he questioned whether the defense's position was that Halligan was serving as a “puppet” or a “stalking horse” for Trump and his demands for retribution against perceived enemies like Comey.
In a highly unusual move, Halligan released a statement Thursday criticizing the judge.
“Personal attacks — like Judge Nachmanoff referring to me as a ‘puppet’ — don’t change the facts or the law," she said. "The Judicial Canons require judges to be ‘patient, dignified, respectful, and courteous to litigants, jurors, witnesses, lawyers, and others with whom the judge deals in an official capacity’ ... and to ‘act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.’ My focus remains on the record and the law, and I will continue to fulfill my responsibilities with professionalism.”
Justice Department spokesperson Chad Gilmartin also attacked Nachmanoff.
“A federal judge should be neutral and impartial. Instead, this judge launched an outrageous and unprofessional personal attack yesterday in open court against US Attorney Lindsey Halligan,” Gilmartin said on X. “DOJ will continue to follow the facts and the law.”
