By ERIC TUCKER

WASHINGTON (AP) — A day after the Justice Department acknowledged to a federal judge that the full grand jury had not reviewed the final indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney overseeing the case abruptly reversed herself, insisting Thursday that the panel properly approved the charges as she tried to contain the fallout from earlier statements that risked imperiling the prosecution.

Related Articles

FAA bonuses to air traffic controllers with perfect attendance during shutdown leave thousands out

Trump expands tariff relief on coffee, fruit and beef from Brazil

Judge to rule on whether to release Kilmar Abrego Garcia from immigration custody

Lawsuit filed on behalf of immigrants fined up to $1.8 million for remaining in the country

Justice Department is examining handling of mortgage fraud investigation into Sen. Adam Schiff

The latest statements from Lindsey Halligan, the hastily named interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, represent an attempt to backtrack on earlier comments the prosecution team made under persistent questioning from a judge about the seemingly jumbled process leading to the return of the two-count indictment.

The new court filing, supplemented by a transcript from the September evening the indictment was returned, is meant to undo any public perception that the grand jury presentation was botched and that the case may be jeopardized as a result. It was not clear why some of the points in Thursday’s filing were not raised during Wednesday’s hearing, when prosecutors made clear that the full grand jury did not see the indictment filed in the case.

Either way, the dueling accounts underscore the irregular nature of the prosecution against one of President Donald Trump’s political opponents and lay bare the consequences of the Justice Department’s decision to entrust such a consequential case to a lawyer who had no prior experience as a prosecutor and was appointed to the job days before the indictment. Halligan replaced an experienced prosecutor who resigned amid Trump administration pressure to indict Comey and another Trump foe, New York Attorney General Letitia James, who has also since been charged by Halligan.

The issue stems from the fact that the Justice Department initially sought a three-count indictment of Comey. The grand jury rejected one of the counts but approved two others accusing Comey of making a false statement and obstructing Congress. Prosecutors then placed the two remaining charges in a revised indictment but said in court Wednesday that the full grand jury did not see the final charging document.

“Let me be clear that the second indictment, the operative indictment in this case that Mr. Comey faces, is a document that was never shown to the entire grand jury or presented in the grand jury room; is that correct?” U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff asked at one point.

“Standing here in front of you, Your Honor, yes, that is my understanding,” replied Tyler Lemons, a prosecutor on the case. “I was not there, but that is my understanding, yes, Your Honor.”

Halligan, who was summoned to the lectern, told Nachmanoff in court Wednesday that only the grand jury foreperson and another grand juror were present for the second indictment. In a court filing later that evening, the Justice Department said the grand jury coordinator had returned to the grand jury room and presented the corrected indictment to the grand jury foreperson and the deputy foreperson.

On Thursday, in a five-page court filing titled “Government’s Notice Correcting the Record,” Halligan sought to downplay any problem with the presentation, describing the situation as a “clerical inconsistency” and insisting it was not the case that the full grand jury never voted on the second indictment.

The filing included a transcript of a conversation involving Halligan, the grand jury foreperson and the magistrate judge who was overseeing the return of the indictment.

“So you voted on the one that has the two counts?” the judge asked at one point, according to the transcript.

“Yes,” replied the foreperson.

Friday night’s Class 6A football final should be a fun one for all viewers, with two of the state’s elite big-school passing games squaring off for a state title in the weather-proof confines of U.S. Bank Stadium.

Moorhead junior quarterback Jett Feeney has played six full games this season and is averaging 287 passing yards in those contests. He has thrown for 25 touchdowns against just one interception and has completed 75% of his passes.

Moorhead junior David Mack pulls in a touchdown grab during the Spuds’ 26-14 victory over Lakeville South in the Class 6A state semifinals at U.S. Bank Stadium on Friday, Nov 14, 2025. (Jason Wachter/ MSHSL)

His top receiving target is 6-foot-1 junior David Mack, who has 114 catches for 1,499 yards and 25 — yes, 25 — receiving touchdowns this fall. He has scored at least once in every game, and has three-plus touchdowns in four games this season.

Mack has an offer from the Gophers, while Feeney has one from Wyoming.

Edina senior quarterback Mason West has offers from the likes of Kent State, Marshall and Miami (Ohio). But the 6-foot-5 signal caller won’t be suiting up for any of them next fall. The first-round draft pick of the Chicago Blackhawks is all hockey from here on out.

He will, however, wrap up his football career on a grand stage. West has thrown for 2,311 yards this season and 26 scores. That includes a masterful semifinal showing in which he threw for 314 yards and four scores in Edina’s upset of Minnetonka to set the stage for Friday’s scintillating showdown.

Wondering what to expect? These two teams met in mid-October. the final week of the regular season, and the Spuds won, 51-44.

West threw for 214 yards and three touchdowns, but the Feeney-Mack combo proved unstoppable. Feeney passed for 387 yards and four touchdowns, all of which went to Mack, who had 18 grabs for 202 yards.

Friday figures to provide plenty of fireworks, and also a welcomed changeup.

Class 6A football has largely become a contest of the trenches, where only the biggest and strongest survive. That’s the sport at its core. But the beauty of sports is that there is often more than one formula for success.

Yet a dominant running game — with a 2-to-1 rush to pass ratio, or higher — seemed to be a requirement to hoist the big-school trophy at season’s end. Here are the team passing and rushing totals for the Class 6A champions, dating back to 2018:

2024 Maple Grove: 3,047 yards rushing, 1,687 passing

2023 Centennial: 3,497 rushing, 1,138 passing

2022 Maple Grove: 3,114 rushing, 1,365 passing

2021 Lakeville South: 4,262 rushing, 655 passing

2019 Wayzata: 2,858 rushing, 1,656 passing

2018 Lakeville North: 3,805 rushing, 947 passing

It’s been 12 years since Roseville’s Jacques Perra and Rosemount’s Jackson Erdmann were dueling in a state semifinal at the Metrodome.

At a certain point, there only felt like one way to join the championship fraternity: Line it up and run the rock. The problem is, not every program has the size and numbers to successfully play that brand of football. And seemed the teams that didn’t had a ceiling on their seasons, either because they couldn’t execute their offense as the weather worsened or they simply couldn’t match the physicality of their opponents in the deeper rounds.

This year’s finalists buck the trend. Moorhead has passed for 2,863 yards this season while rushing for 1,569. Edina has 2,371 yards rushing to 1,796 rushing. Certainly, both teams still can run the ball; it’s how Edina beat Eden Prairie.

Moorhead and Edina aren’t exactly Cinderella stories, but they do things a little differently, and in the process have potentially provided a slightly more replicable road map for the programs who may never have the bodies to line up man to man, pound for pound, with some of the current big-school superpower programs. Now, they can legitimately believe they may just be a couple hyper-skilled kids away from giving themselves a puncher’s chance at their ultimate goal.

Related Articles

Last night in high school sports: Goblirsch twins star for Farmington girls hockey

Last night in high school sports: Aarnio stars as Chisago Lakes girls hockey stays undefeated

High School Hockey: St. Thomas Academy aims to ‘be the villain’ and return to state tourney

Last weekend in MN high school sports: Mounds View/Irondale girls hockey stays perfect

State football roundup: Blocked kick powers Waseca to Class 3A Prep Bowl

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has further loosened tariffs on Brazil as part of his effort to lower consumer costs for Americans. The decision, released Thursday, affects coffee, fruit and beef, among other goods.

Related Articles

Judge to rule on whether to release Kilmar Abrego Garcia from immigration custody

Lawsuit filed on behalf of immigrants fined up to $1.8 million for remaining in the country

Justice Department is examining handling of mortgage fraud investigation into Sen. Adam Schiff

Judge orders Trump administration to end National Guard deployment in DC

Trump administration announces plan for new oil drilling off the coasts of California and Florida

The White House said last week that Trump was rolling back some worldwide tariffs that were originally announced in April.

However, Brazil said that didn’t affect levies that Trump had enacted in July to punish the country for prosecuting his political ally, former President Jair Bolsonaro.

Thursday’s decision harmonizes Trump’s plans, ensuring that neither the April nor July tariffs apply to certain products.

Trump and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva have been negotiating over trade, which could further reduce tariffs.

By BRIAN WITTE

GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — A federal judge in Maryland promised on Thursday to rule as soon as possible on whether to order the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from immigration custody.

Related Articles

Lawsuit filed on behalf of immigrants fined up to $1.8 million for remaining in the country

Justice Department is examining handling of mortgage fraud investigation into Sen. Adam Schiff

Judge orders Trump administration to end National Guard deployment in DC

Trump administration announces plan for new oil drilling off the coasts of California and Florida

Vance says Americans need patience on prices but says ‘We hear you’ on affordability concerns

Abrego Garcia’s mistaken deportation to El Salvador in March, in violation of an earlier court settlement, has galvanized both sides of the debate over President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. Since his return to the United States in June, the government has been seeking to deport him to a series of African countries. His attorneys claim the government is illegally using the immigration system to punish Abrego Garcia for the embarrassment of having to admit that his earlier deportation was in error.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis of Maryland earlier issued an injunction that prevents his immediate removal. The government has asked her to lift the injunction. In court on Thursday, John Cantu, of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, testified in support of Homeland Security’s latest proposal to send Abrego Garcia to Liberia.

Abrego Garcia has an American wife and child and has lived in Maryland for years, but he immigrated to the U.S. illegally from El Salvador as a teenager. In 2019, an immigration judge granted him protection from being deported back to his home country, finding he faced danger there. Since he cannot be deported to El Salvador, the government wants to deport him to a third country.

He has said he is willing to be deported to Costa Rica, which earlier had given the U.S. government a guarantee that he would be allowed to live freely there. However, the government has made no obvious effort to deport him to the Spanish-speaking Central American country, instead notifying of their intent to send him to Uganda, Eswatini, Ghana and now Liberia.

In court on Thursday, Cantu told the judge that removal to Costa Rica is “not an option at the moment” but was short on details as to why.

Abrego Garcia’s attorneys argued that the government cannot simply hold him in immigration detention indefinitely. They also pointed out that there is no final order of removal for Abrego Garcia in the immigration record.

Xinis seemed to agree that without a removal order, he probably should not be in custody.

“You can’t fake it ’till you make it,” she said of the order. “You’ve got to have it.”

Xinis said she would rule on whether he can be released as quickly as she could, but noted, “These are weighty issues.”

Even if Abrego Garcia is released from immigration custody, the government will likely continue seeking to deport him. He has petitioned to reopen his immigration case to seek asylum in the U.S., but there is no guarantee that he will be successful.

After the hearing, Abrego Garcia’s attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg told reporters that the government’s failure to state a reason why Costa Rica cannot accept him adds to the impression that the immigration system is being used for retaliation.

“I can’t think of any reason why we’re still fighting out this case, and why he’s still behind bars in a detention center in Pennsylvania, when the government could have sent him to Costa Rica months ago,” he said.

Travis Loller contributed to this report from Nashville, Tennessee.