by WorldTribune Staff / 247 Real News November 24, 2025

U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie on Monday dismissed the criminal indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, ruling that the prosecutor who brought the cases, former Trump attorney Lindsey Halligan, was not lawfully appointed.

Both indictments were dismissed “without prejudice,” meaning they could be brought again at a later time.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News the Department of Justice plans to appeal.

“We believe the attorney in this case, Lindsey Halligan, is not only extremely qualified for this position but she was in fact legally appointed,” Leavitt said. “And I know the Department of Justice will be appealing this in very short order.”

“Because Ms. Halligan had no lawful authority to present the indictment, I will grant Mr. Comey’s motion and dismiss the indictment,” Judge Currie, a Clinton appointee, wrote in finding that Halligan lacked the authority to present a case to a grand jury.

“All actions flowing from Ms. Halligan’s defective appointment, including securing and signing Mr. Comey’s indictment, were unlawful exercises of executive power and are hereby set aside,” the judge wrote, describing Halligan as “a former White House aide with no prior prosecutorial experience.”

The judge issued a separate, similar ruling dismissing the James case.

“This case presents the unique, if not unprecedented, situation where an unconstitutionally appointed prosecutor, ‘exercising power [she] did not lawfully possess,’… acted alone in conducting a grand jury proceeding and securing an indictment,” the ruling said.

Because Halligan, who was appointed interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia at President Donald Trump’s direction, was the only prosecutor to present the cases and sign the indictments, the indictments should be voided, the judge found.

A spokeswoman for the White House, Abigail Jackson, said in a statement: “The facts of the indictments against Comey and James have not changed and this will not be the final word on this matter.”

Comey, in a video message posted to Instagram, said: “I’m grateful that the court ended the case against me, which was a prosecution based on malevolence and incompetence and a reflection of what the Department of Justice has become under Donald Trump, which is heartbreaking.”

Patrick Fitzgerald, Comey’s attorney, said in a statement that his reading of the ruling suggests the case can’t be refiled because the five-year statute of limitations has expired in the time since the indictment was brought.

Fitzgerald said the ruling “indicates that because the indictment is void, the statute of limitations has run and there can be no further indictment.”

The Justice Department has said in court papers that it believes the case could still move forward because of U.S. Code 3288. The federal statute says in part, “Whenever an indictment or information charging a felony is dismissed for any reason after the period prescribed by the applicable statute of limitations has expired, a new indictment may be returned in the appropriate jurisdiction within six calendar months of the date of the dismissal of the indictment or information.”

James praised the ruling in a statement: “I am heartened by today’s victory and grateful for the prayers and support I have received from around the country. I remain fearless in the face of these baseless charges as I continue fighting for New Yorkers every single day.”

Her attorney, Abbe Lowell, said in a statement that the judge’s order “acknowledges what’s been clear about this case from the beginning. The President went to extreme measures to substitute one of his allies to bring these baseless charges after career prosecutors refused.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi said she retroactively gave Halligan a new position of “special attorney” in response to Comey’s effort to remove Halligan.

“On September 22, 2025, I exercised the authority vested in the Attorney General by 28 U.S.C. § 546 to designate and appoint Lindsey Halligan as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia,” Bondi wrote in a new order dated Oct. 31.

“For the avoidance of doubt as to the validity of that appointment, and by virtue of the authority vested in the Attorney General by law, including 28 U.S.C. § 509, 510, and 515, I hereby appoint Ms. Halligan to the additional position of Special Attorney, as of September 22, 2025, and thereby ratify her employment as an attorney of the Department of Justice from that date going forward,” Bondi said.

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  Federal judge dismisses cases against James Comey and Letitia James, WorldTribune.com