Lindsey Halligan, the insurance coverage lawyer elevated to run the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace for the Jap District of Virginia, has managed to run face first into knowledgeable wooden chipper again and again throughout her brief and nearly assuredly unlawful tenure.
Thrust into the job as a result of nobody with any prosecutorial expertise would log out on legal circumstances in opposition to former FBI Director James “8647” Comey and present NY Lawyer Basic Letitia James — circumstances that make no sense — Halligan approached the duty at hand in a way befitting a graduate of the Dunning Kruger College of Regulation, digging the federal government into successively deeper holes at each flip. Final week, she lastly appeared in court docket to clarify herself and it didn’t go effectively.
However final week, we thought the dumbest a part of Halligan’s bogus circumstances can be signing off on indictments with out a hint of authority. Because it seems, it’s a lot worse! Halligan took Comey to court docket despite the fact that the grand jury by no means noticed, a lot much less voted on the operative indictment.
Questions in regards to the indictment swirled from soar, when the court docket puzzled why they’d obtained two totally different indictments, confusingly at odds over the variety of expenses. The federal government by no means supplied a lot of a passable rationalization for this, and finally the Justice of the Peace ordered the DOJ to show over grand jury materials to Comey’s legal professionals. Halligan fought this, and now we all know why: she had, in reality, royally screwed up the grand jury course of.
Anna Bower lays out the complete timeline, however the brief model is that the grand jury heard three expenses and rejected depend one. The Justice Division then drafted a brand new indictment that listed solely the 2 counts that the grand jury had sufficient votes to approve and — with out sending this doc to the grand jury — simply had the foreperson signal it.
That is why it’s a foul concept to drive all of the skilled prosecutors out of your workplace. However, bear in mind, all of them needed to go as a result of all of them knew this case was frivolous. Not that the DOJ will admit that…
Todd Blanche is ordering prosecutors to not reply questions from the choose on the similar time we’re studying that the federal government submitted a vibe-backed indictment? Cool, cool, cool.
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Regulation and co-host of Considering Like A Lawyer. Be at liberty to e-mail any ideas, questions, or feedback. Observe him on Twitter or Bluesky should you’re interested by legislation, politics, and a wholesome dose of school sports activities information. Joe additionally serves as a Managing Director at RPN Govt Search.
