Efforts by President Donald Trump to use the judicial system against his perceived enemies took a serious hit, as a federal judge dismissed separate cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. United States District Court Judge Cameron McGowan Currie made the ruling on Monday (Nov. 24), citing that Lindsey Halligan, the interim prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia, was “unlawfully appointed.”
In her ruling, Judge Currie wrote that it was improper for the Trump administration to appoint two interim prosecutors in a row, relying ironically on a previous decision by District Court Judge Aileen Cannon to dismiss an indictment against Trump due to the appointment of Jack Smith as a special counsel.
Halligan, a former White House aide, was named interim prosecutor to replace Erik Siebert. Siebert vocalized that there wasn’t sufficient evidence to indict both Comey and James. Upon taking over in late September, Halligan rushed to indict both figures, despite having no background as a prosecutor.
Judge Currie only ruled on the procedural issues, leaving it open for another prosecutor to pursue. But she noted the effect it would have on the criminal justice system. “It would mean the government could send any private citizen off the street — attorney or not — into the grand jury room to secure an indictment so long as the attorney general gives her approval after the fact,” she wrote. “That cannot be the law.”
The ruling makes it the fourth instance that an appointment of a loyalist by the Justice Department has been declared unlawful, according to the New York Times. This includes the installation of Alina Habba as interim head of the U.S. attorney’s office in New Jersey. Attorney General Pam Bondi responded, stating that the Justice Department planned to pursue “all available legal action, including an immediate appeal.”
