A federal judge called out Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday for failing to produce a grand jury transcript.
Judge Cameron McGowan Currie was presiding over the hearing where lawyers for James Comey and Letitia James argued that beauty queen turned prosecutor Lindsey Halligan was serving illegally when she brought criminal cases against them.
Comey and James are seeking to have the cases dismissed.
Judge Currie said she did not receive a section of the transcript from the proceeding held in late September.
“It appears there was no court reporter present,” the judge said, according to CNN, or the court reporter had stopped taking notes.
Last month, Bondi retroactively tried to shore up Halligan’s standing by giving her a new title, “special attorney.” In the court filing dated October 31, Bondi wrote that based on her “review of the grand jury proceedings” she ratified Halligan’s actions “before the grand jury and her signature on the indictments returned.”
The judge on Thursday, however, observed it was “obvious to me that the attorney general could not have reviewed” the entire proceeding.
However, a spokesperson for the Justice Department insisted to Daily Beast that there was no missing transcript.
“There is no ‘missing time.’ That time period refers to when the jurors were deliberating behind closed doors, which would not be included in a transcription,” the statement read.
Comey’s lawyers have argued that Halligan was serving as interim U.S. attorney illegally, and Currie has said she thought the transcripts were “necessary to determine the extent of the indictment signer’s involvement in the grand jury proceedings.”
If Currie decides Halligan, 36, was serving illegally, it could be a fatal blow for the cases she brought against two of President Donald Trump’s biggest perceived political foes.
Lawyers argued Thursday morning before the judge, who was appointed by former President Bill Clinton, at the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia.
They’ve called for the cases to be dismissed because Halligan’s appointment to serve as interim U.S. attorney violates the law. U.S. attorneys are supposed to be appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
If that does not happen, the attorney general can appoint an interim U.S. attorney to serve for 120 days. After that period expires, the district court can appoint a U.S. attorney until the vacancy is filled.
The challenge in this case is that the attorney general for the Eastern District of Virginia first appointed former U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert. The district court then kept him on after his 120 days expired.
The problem is, Siebert resigned amid pressure to bring charges against Trump enemies, and that’s when the attorney general appointed Halligan, a former personal Trump attorney.
The lawyers for Comey and James argue that the law does not state that the attorney general gets to appoint a second interim U.S. attorney and that the district court had the exclusive authority to appoint Siebert’s replacement.
James’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, argued in court on Thursday that Halligan was “pretending” and essentially a private citizen when she walked into the grand jury seeking the indictment.
In Comey’s case, Halligan brought the indictment after just four days on the job in September, and just before the five-year statute of limitations was up. His lawyers argue that a new attorney would not be able to bring a new indictment since the statute of limitations has since expired.
Comey’s attorney, Ephraim McDowell, argued that it was clear the government was trying to appoint anyone before the statute of limitations expired and claimed the only real question was whether Halligan had authority while in the grand jury room.
The Justice Department argued that even if the court finds an issue with the validity of Halligan’s appointment, the cases still stand because she obtained signed indictments as an attorney for the government. They do not depend on the title, and the attorney general has broad power to appoint subordinates.
Henry Whitaker, defending Halligan, argued that the defense lawyers were trying to elevate what was “at best a paperwork error.”
The DOJ has also argued that the attorney general is not limited to just 120 days to appoint an interim U.S. attorney.
Currie is a federal judge for the District of South Carolina, but she was tapped to decide the case because the judges for the District of Eastern Virginia play a role in appointing their U.S. attorney.
Currie said she intends to made a decision on Halligan’s authority before Thanksgiving.
Comey was criminally charged at the end of September with making a false statement and obstructing Congress. James was charged early last month with bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution.
Both of their trials are set for January 2026.
