A federal judge has dismissed charges brought against two of Donald Trump’s biggest political enemies, former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Laetitia James, arguing that the prosecutor who charged them was improperly appointed.
The dismissal does not prevent the charges from being brought again in the future, brought by a public prosecutor appointed according to due procedures.
Judge Cameron McGowan Currie finds that Lindsey Halligan’s appointment as special prosecutor was unconstitutional and that her actions in filing the charges were “illegal” and “ineffective.” Halligan, who had been part of Trump’s team of personal lawyers, was working in the White House as a consultant when the US president tapped her in September to serve as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, where investigations against two of his most hated enemies were underway.
“Because Ms. Halligan lacked the legal authority to bring the allegation, I grant Mr. Comey’s motion and dismiss the charges,” McGowan Currie wrote.
