In a stunning setback for Trump’s Justice Department, a judge on Monday dismissed federal criminal charges against New York Attorney General Tish James and former FBI Director James Comey — finding the prosecutor handpicked by the president “had no lawful authority” to file them.
South Carolina Federal Judge Cameron McGowan Currie found that the appointment of Lindsey Halligan, Trump’s acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, was invalid in granting requests by Comey and James to dismiss the cases against them.
Describing Halligan as “a former White House aide with no prior prosecutorial experience,” Currie wrote, “All actions flowing from Ms. Halligan’s defective appointment, including securing and signing Ms. James’s indictment, were unlawful exercises of executive power and are hereby set aside,” including the same finding in his decision about Comey’s case.
“There is simply ‘no alternative course to cure the unconstitutional problem,’” the Clinton-appointed judge wrote in both rulings.
Trump’s DOJ indicted the AG on Oct. 9 on charges alleging she had lied to a mortgage lender in the process of purchasing a property in Norfolk in 2020 by claiming she’d use the house as a secondary residence and then rented it to a relative, and thus could have netted $18,933 in ill-gotten gains over the life of the loan.
Trump has for years railed against the AG over her victorious fraud case against his real estate empire.
Comey, another longtime critic and foe of the president who Trump fired during his first term, was indicted weeks later, accused of lying during his testimony at a 2020 congressional hearing in which he denied authorizing media leaks of FBI investigations.
Both officials had pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The cases were pursued after Trump appointed his 36-year-old former aide to the senior Justice Department role when her predecessor, Erik Siebert, quit amid a pressure campaign to file charges he believed were unsupported. Halligan had presented both cases to grand juries on her own, a task usually undertaken by teams of assistant prosecutors, not office heads.
The president had just weeks earlier personally directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to go after James and other perceived political opponents in a Truth Social post.
Lawyers for James and Comey had argued that Halligan’s appointment was unlawful because the court had “exclusive authority” to appoint an interim U.S. attorney after Siebert’s appointment expired. Judges had kept him on the job after his 120-day appointment expired months ago.
“Ms. Halligan was not appointed in a manner consistent with this framework. The 120-day clock began running with Mr. Siebert’s appointment on January 21, 2025. When that clock expired on May 21, 2025, so too did the Attorney General’s appointment authority,” Currie wrote.
“Consequently, I conclude that the Attorney General’s attempt to install Ms. Halligan as Interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia was invalid and that Ms. Halligan has been unlawfully serving in that role since September 22, 2025.”
The judge roundly rejected the government’s position that Bondi had the authority to install whoever she wanted in Halligan’s position.
“The implications of a contrary conclusion are extraordinary. 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,” Currie wrote.
“That cannot be the law.”
The judge tossed the cases without prejudice, meaning they could be brought again. However, in dismissing the charges against Comey, the judge noted that the Justice Department’s attempt to ratify his indictment on Oct. 31 was filed too late, with the statute of limitations having expired 31 days earlier on Sept. 30.
In a statement, James celebrated the decision.
“I am heartened by today’s victory and grateful for the prayers and support I have received from around the country,” the AG said. “I remain fearless in the face of these baseless charges as I continue fighting for New Yorkers every single day.”
Comey could not immediately be reached for comment. The News also reached out to the Justice Department for comment.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, in a statement to the Daily News, welcomed Currie’s decision to toss the case against New York’s top law enforcement official and said he believed it had been brought as an act of political revenge.
“Whatever the technicality used to toss out these cases, it’s clear that these charges were based on one thing: retribution. Attacking a Black woman who holds elected office by questioning her ability to earn money or own property has become a tired tactic by the right — one the court clearly saw through,” Sharpton said.
“While we should never have been in a place where the sitting President can seek to rise above the law to scrutinize those who chose the country over loyalty, this ruling is proof that safeguards still exist in our system.”
This developing story will be updated.
