A federal judge on Monday dismissed the Department of Justice’s indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, ruling that Lindsey Halligan, the prosecutor who brought the cases, had not been lawfully appointed. U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie dismissed the cases “without prejudice,” allowing for the possibility of the charges being refiled.
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The court did not evaluate the substance of the allegations against Comey or James, limiting its decision strictly to Halligan’s appointment and authority to bring the cases. Attorney General Pam Bondi responded to the decision by vowing to “take all available legal action, including an immediate appeal.”
The decision hinged on a narrow procedural issue concerning the appointment of Lindsey Halligan, designated as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia by the DOJ following the ouster of Erik Siebert. Currie ruled that Bondi had not appointed Halligan within the 120-day period permitted by federal statute, meaning the authority to name an interim U.S. attorney had shifted to the district court.
In the opinion, Currie wrote that there is “strong evidence Congress did not intend for the Attorney General to retain appointment power beyond 120 days.”
