NY Attorney General Letitia and Former FBI Director James Comey.
Michael M. Santiago | Cheriss May | Nurphoto | Getty Images
A federal judge on Monday dismissed criminal cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, ruling that Lindsey Halligan, the interim U.S. attorney who brought both indictments, was invalidly appointed.
Halligan, President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, had been installed as prosecutor in violation of the Appointments Clause of the Constitution, senior U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie ruled in both cases.
“I conclude that all actions flowing from Ms. Halligan’s defective appointment, including securing and signing Ms. James’s indictment, constitute unlawful exercises of executive power and must be set aside,” Currie ruled. An identical line appears in a separate order scrapping Comey’s case.
The cases were both dismissed “without prejudice,” potentially allowing charges to be filed again at a later date.
The rulings are a major blow to Trump, who had openly pushed Attorney General Pam Bondi to take legal action against Comey, James and other perceived political foes.
Halligan’s office, the White House and the Department of Justice did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment on Currie’s rulings.
Comey was charged in late September on counts of making a false statement and obstruction stemming from his testimony to Congress years earlier.
The indictment against Comey, a longtime target of Trump’s ire, came less than a week after Bondi had appointed Halligan as interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
The prior U.S. attorney in that role, Erik Siebert, had resigned after reportedly expressing concern about pursuing charges against Comey — and after Trump said publicly that he wanted Siebert out.
James was charged in mid-October with bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution in connection with a mortgage she obtained to buy a home in 2020.
In addition to the constitutional violation, Currie determined that Halligan’s installation ran afoul of a statutory mechanism for appointing interim U.S. attorneys.
The law, which gives the attorney general 120 days to make interim appointments, had been triggered by the appointment of Siebert on Jan. 21, the judge wrote.
When that clock ran out on May 21, “so too did the Attorney General’s appointment authority,” Currie ruled.
Halligan has therefore “been unlawfully serving in that role” since her appointment on Sept. 22, Currie ruled.
The judge noted that in both cases, Halligan was the only prosecutor who presented information to the grand juries that ultimately returned the indictments.
“I am heartened by today’s victory and grateful for the prayers and support I have received from around the country,” James said in a statement following the dismissal. “I remain fearless in the face of these baseless charges as I continue fighting for New Yorkers every single day.”
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