The judge who examined the indictment of James Comey was confused by the treatment of the case by the prosecutor, the transcription shows

The American magistrate judge Lindsey Vaala expressed his confusion and his surprise at certain times during the judicial session of seven minutes when a great federal jury imprisoned in Alexandria, Virginia, returned the indictment From former FBI director James Comey Thursday evening.

According to a transcription of the procedure obtained by CBS News, Judge Vaala asked the lawyer between the United States, Lindsey Halligan – A former personal lawyer of Trump – why there were two versions of the indictment.

A majority of the great jury which examined the material Comey voted not to charge him With one of the three counts presented by the prosecutors, according to a form which was signed by the counterpontage of the Grand Jury and filed in the court. He was charged with two other charges – making false declarations in the congress and obstructing a convention procedure – after 14 of the 23 jurors voted in favor of them, the counterpontage to the judge said.

But two versions of the indictment were published on the case of the case: one with the third abandoned account, and one without. Transcription reveals why it happened.

“So that has never happened before. I was given two documents which are in the case Mr. Comey which are incompatible with each other,” Vaala told Halligan. “There seems to be a divergence. They are both signed by the (Grand Jury) Foresterson.”

And she noted that a document did not clearly indicate what the Grand Jury had decided.

“The one who says that it is a failure to agree in an indictment, does not say as regards a charging chief,” said Vaala. “It seems that they did not agree between the three charges, so I am a little confused as to the reason why I was given two things with the same case number which is not consistent.”

Halligan first replied that she had not seen this version of the indictment.

“So, I only examined the one with the two charges that our office redrawn when we discovered the two – two counts that were real, and I signed this one. I did not see the other. I don’t know where it came from,” Halligan told the judge.

Vaala replied: “Have you not seen it?” And Halligan said to him again: “I didn’t see that one.”

Vaala seemed surprised: “So your office did not prepare the indictment they -“

Halligan then replied: “No, no, I – I – No, I prepared three charges. I only signed this one (indictment). I do not know which with three accounts you have in your hands.”

“Okay. He has your signature on it,” Vaala told Halligan, who replied: “Okay. Well.”

Vaala also noted that the court session had started unusually late, at 6:47 p.m. Thursday evening, telling the big jurors “I don’t think we never met so late” when she thanked them for their service.

The accusations against Comey – which accuse him of lying in testimonies he gave to the Senate in 2020 – mark an unprecedented stage for the Ministry of Justice, after President Trump publicly urged prosecutors to examine the former FBI chief with whom he dismissed in 2017 and argued for years.

In an unusual decision, Comey’s indictment was personally signed by Halligan, not a basic federal prosecutor. Halligan was sworn on MondayAfter days of upheaval in the American prosecutor’s office in Alexandria.

Former office chief, Erik Siebert, announced his resignation on Friday Following concerns among his staff that he could be dismissed for omitting to charge criminal another opponent of Trump, the prosecutor general of New York Letitia James. A day later, Trump announced that Siebert had been dismissed and published a message suggesting that the Attorney General Pam Bondi should examine Comey, James and a third long -standing fire from Trump, Democratic Senator Adam Schiff from California.

Before Comey was charged, the staff of the US prosecutor’s office circulated a service note which argued that the accusations should not be brought against the former FBI director, a source of the Ministry of Justice told CBS.

The prosecutor General Pam Bondi congratulated Halligan in an article on X Friday, writing that she “did an outstanding job”.

Scott MacFarlane contributed to this report.