A federal choose has dismissed the felony circumstances in opposition to former FBI Director James Comey and New York Lawyer Basic Letitia James on the grounds that the appointment of the U.S. legal professional who introduced the indictments was invalid.
The choose dismissed the costs with out prejudice, that means the circumstances may probably be refiled by an appropriately appointed U.S. legal professional.
U.S. District Choose Cameron McGowan Currie concluded that the appointment of Interim U.S. Lawyer Lindsey Halligan was unconstitutional and that her actions bringing the case have been “illegal” and “ineffective.”
“As a result of Ms. Halligan had no lawful authority to current the indictment, I’ll grant Mr. Comey’s movement and dismiss the indictment with out prejudice,” she wrote.
Halligan, President Donald Trump’s handpicked U.S. legal professional for the Jap District of Virginia, sought the indictment of Comey and James over the objections of career prosecutors after Trump forced out earlier U.S. legal professional Erik Siebert who sources stated had resisted bringing the circumstances.
Halligan, who had no expertise as a prosecutor, sought the indictment after Trump, in a social media submit, known as on Lawyer Basic Pam Bondi to act “NOW!!!” to prosecute Comey, James and Rep. Adam Schiff.
Comey pleaded not guilty in October to 1 rely of false statements and one rely of obstruction of a congressional continuing associated to his testimony earlier than the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2020, amid what critics name Trump’s campaign of retribution in opposition to his perceived political foes.
James Comey speaks, Could 30, 2023 in New York Metropolis.
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Pictures
Vice President JD Vance has stated any such prosecutions are “pushed by regulation and never by politics.”
James, who efficiently introduced a civil fraud case in opposition to Trump final yr and leads a number of lawsuits difficult his administration’s insurance policies, pleaded not guilty in October to expenses that she dedicated mortgage fraud associated to a house she bought in 2020.
Prosecutors stated she falsely described a property she bought in Norfolk, Virginia, as a second residence as an alternative of an funding property as a way to acquire a decrease mortgage price. James stated she bought the property for her great-niece and allowed her and her kids to stay in the home rent-free.
“I’m heartened by right this moment’s victory and grateful for the prayers and help I’ve acquired from across the nation,” James stated in an announcement following Friday’s ruling. “I stay fearless within the face of those baseless expenses as I proceed combating for New Yorkers each single day.”
With the statute of limitations for Comey’s case set to run out, it’s unclear whether or not the case may very well be refiled in time. Legal professionals for Comey have argued that the statute of limitations has already run out.
In contrast to the case in opposition to Comey, the allegations in opposition to James look like properly throughout the statute of limitations ought to the Division of Justice attempt to pursue the case once more.
New York Lawyer Basic Letitia James speaks to the media after she pleaded not responsible to expenses that she defrauded her mortgage lender, exterior the U.S. District Court docket for the Jap District of Virginia, in Norfolk, Virginia, Oct. 24, 2025.
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
After each Comey and James have been indicted, Bondi tried to ratify Haligan’s appointment, however Choose Currie rejected that try to repair the difficulty after the very fact.
“The implications of a opposite conclusion are extraordinary. It will imply the Authorities may ship any personal citizen off the road — legal professional or not — into the grand jury room to safe an indictment as long as the Lawyer Basic offers her approval after the very fact. That can not be the regulation,” she wrote.
