A federal judge dismissed the criminal indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James on Monday, finding the prosecutor who brought the cases, former Trump attorney Lindsey Halligan, was not lawfully appointed.
U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie said she agreed with Comey, who moved to dismiss the case on the grounds that Halligan’s appointment was illegal.
“Because Ms. Halligan had no lawful authority to present the indictment, I will grant Mr. Comey’s motion and dismiss the indictment,” Currie wrote in finding that Halligan lacked the authority to present a case to a grand jury.
“All actions flowing from Ms. Halligan’s defective appointment, including securing and signing Mr. Comey’s indictment, were unlawful exercises of executive power and are hereby set aside,” the judge wrote, describing the insurance lawyer as “a former White House aide with no prior prosecutorial experience.”
She issued a separate, similar ruling dismissing the James case.
“This case presents the unique, if not unprecedented, situation where an unconstitutionally appointed prosecutor, ‘exercising power [she] did not lawfully possess,’… acted alone in conducting a grand jury proceeding and securing an indictment,” the ruling said.
Lindsey Halligan in the Oval Office on March 31.Al Drago / Getty Images file
Because Halligan, who was appointed interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia at President Donald Trump’s direction, was the only prosecutor to present the cases and sign the indictments, the indictments should be voided, the judge found.
Attorney General Pam Bondi reacted to the dismissal of the cases by saying during a news conference in Memphis that the Justice Department will “be taking all available legal action, including an immediate appeal.”
Bondi also defended Halligan, calling her “an excellent” attorney.
After the ruling, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, “Lindsey Halligan was legally appointed, and that’s the administration’s position.”
The U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Virginia declined to comment. Halligan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Comey, in a video on Instagram, said, “I’m grateful that the court ended the case against me, which was a prosecution based on malevolence and incompetence and a reflection of what the Department of Justice has become under Donald Trump, which is heartbreaking.”
“This case mattered to me personally, obviously, but it matters most because a message has to be sent that the president of the United States cannot use the Department of Justice to target his political enemies,” he said.
“I know that Donald Trump will probably come after me again, and my attitude is going to be the same. I’m innocent. I am not afraid, and I believe in an independent federal judiciary, the gift from our founders that protects us from a would-be tyrant,” he added.
Responding to Comey’s statement, Bondi told reporters that she was “not worried about someone who has been charged with a very serious crime,” adding that “his alleged actions were a betrayal of public trust.”
James praised the judge’s ruling.