A federal judge has dismissed the criminal cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, concluding that the prosecutor who brought the charges at President Trump's urging was illegally appointed by the Justice Department. The rulings from US District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie amount to a stunning rebuke of the Trump administration's efforts to target Trump's political opponents as well as its legal maneuvering to hastily install a loyalist prosecutor willing to file the cases, the AP reports.
The orders make Lindsey Halligan the latest Trump administration prosecutor to be disqualified because of the manner in which they were appointed. "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," Currie wrote in her ruling. Currie dismissed the Comey indictment without prejudice, meaning the government could attempt to refile the charges, the New York Times reports.
- "I agree with Mr. Comey that the Attorney General's attempt to install Ms. Halligan as Interim US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia was invalid. And because Ms. Halligan had no lawful authority to present the indictment, I will grant Mr. Comey's motion and dismiss the indictment," Currie wrote. She dismissed the James case in another ruling, NBC News reports.
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