A federal grand jury properly voted on the indictment of ex-FBI boss James Comey in September after prosecutors mistakenly told a judge that not all jurors saw the final version of the charges, according to a transcript of the proceeding.
A federal grand jury properly voted on the indictment of ex-FBI boss James Comey in September after prosecutors mistakenly told a judge that not all jurors saw the final version of the charges, according to a new court transcript.
Interim US Attorney Lindsey Halligan submitted the transcript the day after a tense hearing in Alexandria, Va., on Wednesday, during which she had indicated only “the foreperson and another grand juror” handed up the indictment to US Magistrate Judge Lindsey Vaala.
But a court filing from the US Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Virginia on Thursday noted the transcript of the Sept. 25 proceeding before Vaala “conclusively refutes” that there was an issue with the process “and establishes that the grand jury voted on — and true-billed — the two-count indictment.”
“[A]ny assertion that the grand jury ‘never voted on the two-count indictment’ is contradicted by the official transcript,” Halligan’s team responded in the new court papers — directly contradicting claims from Comey’s defense team in court that the charges were void.
On Sept. 25, the grand jury voted on three counts against the former FBI Director — two for making false statements to Congress and one charge for obstructing justice — but one of the false statements charges wasn’t returned by a majority of the 23-member panel.
“It was the very first count that we did not agree on,” the grand jury foreperson told Vaala, per the transcript, “and the Count Two and Three were then put in a different package, which we agreed on.”
A clerical error caused by the redrafting of the indictment also briefly confused the magistrate judge’s understanding of what had occurred during the grand jury’s deliberations, but it was quickly resolved.
“So you voted on the one that has two counts?” Vaala asked.
“Yes,” the jury foreperson affirmed.
Halligan and Assistant US Attorneys Tyler Lemons and Gabriel Diaz in Thursday’s filing wrote that the transcript “confirms the Court’s recognition that the two-count true bill is the valid, operative indictment.
