A US federal judge today annulled the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey and New York State Attorney General Letitia James, both designated by President Donald Trump as priority targets of the Department of Justice.
The judge considered invalid the appointment of Lindsey Halligan, the federal prosecutor chosen by Trump, who had initiated these proceedings, ordering, as a result, the archiving of both cases.
Comey and James, who were facing separate charges, joined forces to challenge the appointment of the acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Lindsey Halligan, arguing that she was not lawfully holding the position when she filed the charges against these two political adversaries of Trump.
Judge Cameron McGowan Currie ruled in her ruling that Halligan’s appointment was “not valid” at the time the charges were brought.
“As Ms. Halligan did not have the legal authority to bring the charges, I will grant Mr. Comey’s motion and bring the charges without prejudice,” McGowan Currie wrote.
“Since Ms. Halligan did not have the legal authority to bring the indictment, I will grant Mr. Comey’s motion and dismiss the indictment,” McGowan Currie wrote.
The decision does not constitute an acquittal or a definitive dismissal: the prosecution may refile charges in the future, when the errors that led to the dismissal have been corrected.
The defenses of Comey and James had denounced the “unusual” way in which Halligan, 36 years old and with no previous experience as a prosecutor, personally presented the accusations in documents that only contained her signature, after several of her subordinates refused to do so.
Halligan was appointed by Trump as acting Virginia prosecutor on September 22, after her predecessor, Erik Siebert, resigned under apparent pressure from the President, after questioning the strength of the evidence to move forward with the cases against Comey and James.
Just three days later, the prosecutor filed the indictment against the former head of the FBI (United States Secret and Homeland Security Services), who became a staunch critic of Trump.
Weeks later, he indicted Letitia James for bank fraud and for allegedly lying to a financial institution, who led a civil case in New York against Donald Trump, his adult children and the Trump Organization, which resulted in a judgment of 500 million dollars (433 million euros) in 2024.
With trials initially scheduled for January, both Comey and James have pleaded not guilty.