CBS’s Scott MacFarlane dropped a bombshell this morning: the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey was signed by a single person — the newly installed U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Lindsey Halligan. No other career prosecutors put their names on the case, a break from long-standing Justice Department practice.
Comey was indicted on two federal charges — obstruction of a congressional proceeding and making a false statement in 2020 Senate testimony. A third proposed charge was rejected by the grand jury. Comey insists he is innocent, vowing to fight the case in court.
The indictment came just days after President Trump publicly urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to prosecute Comey, and after the ouster of the prior U.S. attorney who had declined to move forward. Halligan, a Trump White House aide turned U.S. attorney, was then installed — and is now the only prosecutor attached to the case.
The fallout was immediate: a longtime assistant U.S. attorney in Virginia resigned last night, citing the Comey indictment as the breaking point.
Why this matters:
Unprecedented isolation: DOJ indictments of this scale are normally signed by teams of prosecutors, not just one newly appointed political ally.
Political retribution: Critics argue this is textbook political persecution of a Trump enemy, carried out after direct pressure on DOJ leadership.
Institutional cracks: The resignation highlights a potential crisis of confidence inside one of the most important U.S. Attorney’s offices in the country.
The bottom line: CBS reporting shows this case isn’t just about Comey. It’s about how far Trump’s DOJ will bend institutional norms to pursue retribution — even if it means leaving a single, politically loyal appointee to sign her name on an indictment no one else would touch.
