A federal decide threw out the legal costs towards former FBI Director James Comey and New York Lawyer Basic Letitia James, ruling that the prosecutor who introduced the instances had been illegally appointed.
The appointment of Lindsey Halligan as interim US legal professional for the Japanese District of Virginia was illegal, US District Choose Cameron McGowan Currie stated in rulings Monday. She dismissed the fees towards Comey and James with out prejudice, that means that prosecutors could possibly refile the instances.
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“I conclude that the legal professional basic’s try to put in Ms. Halligan as Interim US Lawyer for the Japanese District of Virginia was invalid and that Ms. Halligan has been unlawfully serving in that function since Sept. 22, 2025,” Currie, a Invoice Clinton appointee, wrote in separate rulings in each instances.
President Donald Trump abruptly put in Halligan in September after her predecessor resigned below stress to deliver costs towards Comey and James. Lawyer Basic Pam Bondi determined find out how to appoint her and Halligan was the only prosecutor who secured separate grand jury indictments towards each of them.
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The rulings signify one other astonishing rebuke of how Trump and his Justice Division have dealt with instances inside his administration, as different prosecutors have been dealt important blows by federal judges who discovered their lawyering to be suspect or illegal.
James and Comey filed separate authorized challenges arguing the appointment of Halligan violated the Justice Division’s course of for naming interim US attorneys.
‘Extraordinary’
“The implications of a opposite conclusion are extraordinary,” Currie wrote. “It could imply the Authorities might ship any non-public citizen off the road — legal professional or not — into the grand jury room to safe an indictment as long as the legal professional basic provides her approval after the very fact. That can’t be the regulation.”
Comey was indicted in September for allegedly mendacity to Congress and obstruction associated to testimony he gave in 2020. James was indicted in October for one rely of alleged financial institution fraud and one rely of creating false statements to a monetary establishment associated to a mortgage on a house she owns in Virginia.
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Each have denied any wrongdoing and are preventing their respective costs in courtroom.
“I’m heartened by immediately’s victory and grateful for the prayers and assist I’ve obtained from across the nation,” James stated in an announcement. “I stay fearless within the face of those baseless costs as I proceed preventing for New Yorkers each single day.”
Currie, a senior decide, is generally primarily based in South Carolina. She was requested to take over the case out of Virginia to make sure impartiality as a result of the Virginia-based judges beforehand voted to fill the US Lawyer place with another person.
