James Comey hearing: Big revelation surfaces in ex-FBI Director’s case as Justice Department says full grand jury didn't review copy of final indictment; what do we know so far

In a significant revelation related to the James Comey hearing, the Justice Department states that the full grand jury was not presented with a copy of the final indictment in the case against the former FBI Director. This is a concession that may further imperil a prosecution already subject to multiple challenges and demands for its dismissal.

According to news agency AP, the revelation is the latest indication of a troubled presentation of the case to the grand jury by an inexperienced and hastily appointed US attorney named to the job just days earlier by President Donald Trump. Judge Michael Nachmanoff has directed the Justice Department to respond in a filing by 5 PM ET tonight to the revelations that interim US Attorney Lindsey Halligan hadn’t presented the charges Comey now faces to the full grand jury for approval, according to CNN.

Halligan, the interim US attorney in charge of the case, said under questioning that only the foreperson of the grand jury and a second grand juror were present for the returning of the indictment.


Comey has pleaded not guilty to charges accusing him of making a false statement and obstructing Congress and has denied any wrongdoing. The Justice Department has denied that the prosecution was vindictive or selective and insists that the allegations support the indictment.

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Trump fired Comey as FBI director in May 2017, as Comey was overseeing an FBI investigation into potential ties between Russia and Trump's 2016 campaign. The two have been publicly at odds ever since, with Trump deriding Comey as "a weak and untruthful slimeball" and calling for his prosecution.

Concerns related to the process surfaced earlier in the week when a different judge in the case stated that there was no record in the transcript he had reviewed of the grand jury reviewing the indictment that was actually presented against Comey.