"As I have suspected since at least Friday, there is no Jim Comey indictment. That's because, rather than re-presenting the case after the jury no-billed on one count, Lindsey Halligan never re-presented the remaining two counts. In a shocking back and forth, prosecutors said that instead of presenting a new indictment to the grand jury after it declined to approve one of the counts, Halligan simply brought an altered version to the magistrate's courtroom for the grand jury's foreperson to sign."
"Apparently Michael Dreeben declared, correctly, that therefore there is probably no indictment, period, because the full grand jury did not vote to support it. The problem goes beyond just the basics of how a grand jury works. As I noted here, Lindsey's Loaner AUSAs already confessed that they want to rely on the no-billed count to support their obstruction case. [A]s provided in discovery and via the indictment, the government intends to seek the admission of evidence at trial on this count regarding the defendant's statements to senators during the September 30, 2020, committee hearing."
Prosecutors failed to secure a proper grand jury vote after one count was no-billed, and Lindsey Halligan did not re-present the two remaining counts to the full grand jury. Instead, an altered indictment was taken to the magistrate's courtroom where the grand jury foreperson signed it, raising questions about its validity. Judge Michael Nachmanoff questioned Halligan about whether the entire grand jury reviewed the altered indictment. Michael Dreeben concluded that there is likely no indictment because the full grand jury did not vote to support it. Prosecutors plan to admit evidence tied to the no-billed count, including the defendant's statements to senators during the September 30, 2020 committee hearing.
Read at emptywheel
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]