Comey attorneys claim the charges against him should be thrown out due to selective prosecution. (Credit: Getty Images)
Lindsey Halligan, the interim US attorney who secured the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, admitted to the trial judge Wednesday that the full grand jury never saw the final version of the charges against the former top lawman.
Despite claims that the revelation could damn the criminal case, lawyers for Halligan’s office fired back in filings later in the day — saying that proper procedures were in fact followed and that the charges against Comey remain legally valid.
“Personal attacks — like Judge Nachmanoff referring to me as a ‘puppet’ — don’t change the facts or the law,” Halligan told The Post.
“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.”
The hearing on Wednesday was meant to address Comey’s request to turn over grand jury documents so the defense could review them — alleging that Halligan acted as a puppet for President Trump and “botched” the grand jury indictment.
“The transcript is complete. The procedure was proper,” wrote Assistant US Attorney Gabriel Diaz in the 25-page filing, calling on the court to “set aside” the judge’s order.
Assistant US Attorney N. Tyler Lemons added in a seven-page, follow-up filing that “the government course of conduct here was permissible and proper.”
“The Grand Jury foreperson, as the representative of the Grand Jury, endorsed the revised two count Indictment by signing it and explaining on the record in open Court that the Indictment reflected the vote of the Grand Jury,” Lemons said.
In response to Halligan’s revelation in court Wednesday, defense attorney Michael Dreeben called for the case to be thrown out, claiming the indictment had not been properly secured before the expiration of the five-year statute of limitations Sept. 30. (Read more: The New York Post, 11/19/2025) (Archive)
November 20, 2025 – Grand jury properly voted on James Comey’s indictment, foreman claims in blow to defense: ‘Eliminates any doubt’