Judge dismisses criminal cases against James Comey and Letitia James

A federal judge on Monday dismissed the government’s indictment of former FBI Director James B. Comey, ruling that President Trump’s appointment of Lindsey Halligan as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia was invalid.

Judge Cameron McGowan Currie also threw out the indictment of New York Attorney General Letitia James. Ms. Halligan had charged her with mortgage fraud.

Judge Currie dismissed both indictments without prejudice, which allows the government to refile the charges. However, some legal experts say the five-year statute of limitations may have expired for Mr. Comey’s alleged offenses.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said she will appeal the ruling.

“I’m going to keep going with this,” Ms. Bondi said, adding that Mr. Comey’s actions “were a betrayal of the public trust.

A federal grand jury charged Mr. Comey on Sept. 25 with making false statements about leaks to the media regarding his 2016 investigation into presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s missing government emails.

He was also charged with obstructing a congressional investigation into the disclosure of “sensitive information” to the media.

Mr. Comey pleaded not guilty in October.

His attorneys sought to have the case dismissed through several avenues, including the argument that the installation of Ms. Halligan was invalid because her predecessor had already exceeded the 120-day limit for temporary appointments.

Judge Currie agreed with Mr. Comey’s attorneys. He called Ms. Halligan’s appointment “defective” and ruled that all her actions in that role “constitute unlawful exercises of executive power and must be set aside.”

Ms. Halligan, he wrote in two separate rulings, “had no lawful authority” to indict Mr. Comey or Ms. James.

Mr. Comey praised the decision.

In a video posted on social media, he said the criminal case against him “was a prosecution of malevolence and incompetence and a reflection of what the Department of Justice has become under Donald Trump.”

The ruling significantly hobbles both cases.

“Without a doubt, there is going to be an appeal by the government,” legal analyst Philip Holloway said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Ms. Halligan was “legally appointed” and “extremely qualified” to act as interim U.S. attorney.

The president had sought the prosecution of Mr. Comey and Ms. James, who have separately targeted Mr. Trump and are staunch political opponents.

Mr. Trump installed Ms. Halligan after calling for the ouster of her predecessor, Erik Siebert, who resisted pressure to indict either Mr. Comey or Ms. James.

Judge Currie, who was appointed by President Clinton, ruled that the law was clear: Once the 120-day period expires, a panel of district judges must appoint an interim U.S. attorney until the Senate confirms someone to serve in the role permanently.

At the time Ms. Bondi appointed Ms. Halligan, the 120-day clock had expired on Mr. Siebert’s appointment. In May, a panel of district judges reappointed him to continue in his role.

He resigned on Sept. 19, and Ms. Bondi appointed Ms. Halligan.

“According to news reports, Mr. Siebert had recently expressed concerns to senior Department of Justice officials about the viability of pursuing charges against Ms. James and former FBI Director Comey. Mr. Siebert’s resignation came hours after President Trump told reporters at the White House” that he wanted Mr. Siebert out of the role, Judge Currie wrote.

A federal grand jury indicted Ms. James on Oct. 9 on bank fraud charges and making false statements to a bank to obtain more favorable terms on a residential mortgage.

In a Nov. 7 motion seeking to dismiss the case, Ms. James called the charges against her retaliatory and pointed to Mr. Trump’s calling her “crooked,” “scum” and other derogatory names.

Mr. Comey also argued in court papers that Mr. Trump was seeking revenge by filing charges against him.

Mr. Comey was a key player in the decision to launch a deeply flawed, secret spy campaign on Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign that ultimately hobbled the president’s first term in office.

Ms. James successfully prosecuted a civil fraud case against Mr. Trump, charging him with inflating the value of his Mar-a-Lago club and New York properties to secure bank loans. In August, a New York appeals court tossed out the $500 million fine.

Ms. Halligan submitted new documents last week in the case against Ms. James, who is charged with lying to mortgage companies during her purchase of a three-bedroom home on Peronne Avenue in Norfolk, Virginia, in 2020. Ms. James said the home would serve as a secondary residence on her mortgage application. Prosecutors said that helped her secure a mortgage rate of 3% instead of 3.8%. Instead of using it as her residence, she rented out the home to a relative.

The new evidence suggests Ms. James was aware of the deception. She claimed to the IRS and a homeowners insurance company that the Norfolk home would be an investment property, even though she listed it as a secondary residence on her mortgage application. Ms. James took the tax deduction “consistent with an investment property” until 2024, when she wrote to her accountant that the deduction “looks suspicious” and stopped taking it.

“Defendants’ actions show she knew the Peronne residence was not a secondary residence, but rather an investment property,” prosecutors argued.

Ms. James denied wrongdoing and celebrated Judge Currie’s ruling.

“I am heartened by today’s victory and grateful for the prayers and support I have received from around the country,” Ms. James said in a statement. “I remain fearless in the face of these baseless charges as I continue fighting for New Yorkers every single day.”

Ed Whelan, a constitutional scholar at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, said there is an avenue for reviving the two cases.

Ms. Bondi could appoint Ms. Halligan as a “first assistant” in the U.S. attorney’s office, which would make Ms. Halligan an acting U.S. attorney. She could then indict Mr. Comey again, and presumably Ms. James, under a law that gives prosecutors six months to refile charges that are dismissed after the statute of limitations has expired.