A federal judge has dismissed the criminal cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, delivering a major setback to former President Donald Trump’s efforts to prosecute his political adversaries. The judge ruled that the prosecutor who brought the charges was unlawfully appointed.
In a sharp rebuke, U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie found that the Justice Department under Trump had no legal authority to appoint prosecutor Lindsey Halligan, a former White House aide with no prosecutorial experience. The judge stated that all actions from her “defective appointment,” including securing the indictments, were “unlawful exercises of executive power.”
The rulings halt, for now, prosecutions that both Comey and James had labeled as politically motivated vindictiveness. “I am grateful that the court ended the case against me, which was a prosecution based on malevolence and incompetence,” said Comey. James stated she was “heartened by today’s victory.”
The White House and Attorney General Pam Bondi vowed an immediate appeal, asserting this would “not be the final word.” The dismissals deal a significant blow to Trump’s agenda of using the Justice Department against his critics, though prosecutors could attempt to refile the charges through a proper legal channel.
By James Kisoo
