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A federal judge has thrown out the criminal cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, ruling that President Donald Trump’s handpicked prosecutor was unlawfully appointed and lacked the authority to seek the indictments.
U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie issued the sweeping decision Monday, concluding that Lindsey Halligan — Trump’s former personal attorney elevated to interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia — was installed in violation of federal law requiring Senate confirmation for top federal prosecutors.
“Ms. Halligan has been unlawfully serving in that role since September 22, 2025,” Currie wrote. “All actions flowing from Ms. Halligan’s defective appointment … constitute unlawful exercises of executive power and must be set aside.”
The ruling amounts to a sharp rebuke of the Trump administration’s scramble to bring charges against the president’s critics, and it raises broader questions about the legality of similar appointments across the country. Several of Trump’s interim U.S. attorneys have already been declared unlawfully installed by courts in New Jersey, Nevada, and California.
Currie dismissed both cases without prejudice, technically allowing prosecutors to seek new indictments. But she agreed with Comey’s attorneys that the statute of limitations on his case expired Sept. 30 — a deadline she said passed without a “valid” indictment. “There is no legitimate peg” to revive the charges, she wrote, making a second prosecution highly unlikely.
The rulings wipe away Comey’s indictment on charges of lying to Congress about the FBI’s handling of the Trump–Russia investigation, as well as James’ indictment on bank fraud and false-statement counts. Both pleaded not guilty.
White House blasts ruling
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration will appeal, dismissing the ruling as “a technical decision” by a “partisan judge” seeking to protect Trump’s adversaries.
“Everybody knows that James Comey lied to Congress. It’s as clear as day,” Leavitt said, insisting the cases would ultimately move forward.
But Currie rejected the administration’s argument that Attorney General Pam Bondi could retroactively ratify Halligan’s actions — an approach the judge said would enable a boundless expansion of prosecutorial power.
“That 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,” Currie wrote. “That cannot be the law.”
Defendants hail decision
Comey said he was relieved the case was dismissed, calling the prosecution “a reflection of what the Department of Justice has become under Donald Trump, which is heartbreaking.” Letitia James said she was “heartened” by the ruling and “fearless in the face of these baseless charges.”
Federal judges overseeing related challenges have raised concerns about Halligan’s lack of prosecutorial experience and signs of “vindictive” targeting of Trump critics — concerns likely to resurface if prosecutors try to re-charge either defendant.
Currie said the vacancy in the U.S. attorney’s office can now be filled through either a judicial appointment or a presidential nominee confirmed by the Senate — a process the administration has repeatedly struggled to navigate in states with Democratic senators.
