The judge also appeared puzzled after a lead prosecutor said he couldn’t reveal whether career attorneys initially recommended against charging the former FBI director.

The Trump administration’s criminal prosecution of former FBI Director James Comey appeared to be in serious jeopardy Wednesday as the federal judge overseeing the case repeatedly questioned the validity of the grand jury indictment charging Comey with lying to and obstructing Congress.

U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff pressed prosecutors during a hearing on the events around the Sept. 25 charges against Comey, questioning whether the entire grand jury ever saw the two-count indictment that a magistrate judge received after the grand jurors rejected one of three charges proposed by interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan.