Judge dismisses Comey, James cases

Prosecutor who brought charges was illegally installed, ruling states

- Eric Tucker

FORMER FBI Director James Comey was charged with lying to Congress by the Justice Department.

J. SCOTT APPLE WHITE Associated Press

A federal judge on Monday dismissed the criminal cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Atty. Gen. Letitia James, concluding that the prosecutor who brought the charges at President Trump's urging was illegally appointed by the Justice Department.

The rulings from U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie halt at least for now a pair of prosecutions that targeted two of the president's most highprofile political opponents and amount to a stunning rebuke of the Trump administration's legal maneuvering to install an inexperienced and loyalist prosecutor willing to file the cases.

The orders do not concern the substance of the allegations against Comey or James but instead deal with the unconventional manner in which the prosecutor, Lindsey named to her position as interim U.S. attorney for the Halligan, was Eastern District of Virginia.

Defense lawyers said the Trump administration had no legal authority to make the appointment. In a pair of similar rulings, Currie agreed and said the invalid appointment required the dismissal of the cases.

"All actions flowing from Ms. Halligan's defective appointment," including securing and signing the indictments, "were unlawful exercises of executive power and are hereby set aside," she wrote.

The Justice Department did not immediately disclose its next steps, though it may appeal the rulings and could look to refile the cases.

"The facts of the indictments against Comey and James have not changed and this will not be the final word on the matter," White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said.

Indictments face multiple challenges