Justice Department again fails to re-indict N.Y. Atty. Gen. James

A grand jury declined for a second time in a week to re-indict New York Atty.

- BY ALANNA DURKIN RICHER AND MICHAEL KUNZELMAN

Gen. Letitia James on Thursday in another major blow to the Justice Department's efforts to prosecute the president’s political opponents.The repeated failures amounted to a stunning rebuke of prosecutors’ bid to resurrect a criminal case President Trump pressured them to bring, and hinted at a growing public leeriness of the administration's retribution campaign.

A grand jury rejection is an unusual circumstance in any case but is especially stinging for a Justice Department that has been steadfast in its determination to seek revenge against Trump foes such as James and former FBI Director James Comey. On separate occasions, citizens have heard the government's evidence against James and have come away underwhelmed, unwilling to rubber-stamp what prosecutors have attempted to portray as a clear-cut criminal case.

A judge threw out the original indictments against James and Comey in November, ruling that the prosecutor who presented to the grand jury, Lindsey Halligan, was illegally appointed U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.