A United States District Judge tossed out the criminal cases against the New York attorney general, Letitia James, and a former FBI director, James Comey, without prejudice after ruling that the federal prosecutor assigned to the case was not lawfully appointed.

In a 29-page opinion released Monday, Senior U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie concluded that the  interim US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Lindsey Halligan, was invalidly installed to her position by Attorney General Pam Bondi — a contention Mr. Comey and his attorneys made in their calls to have the “vindictively motivated” indictment against him dismissed.

“I agree with Mr. Comey that the Attorney General’s attempt to install Ms. Halligan as Interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia was invalid. And because Ms. Halligan had no lawful authority to present the indictment, I will grant Mr. Comey’s motion and dismiss the indictment without prejudice,” Judge Currie writes in her opinion. 

Ms. Halligan secured the two-count indictment against Mr. Comey days before the statute of limitations was set to expire and three days after she was installed as acting U.S. Attorney on September 22nd. Despite having no criminal prosecutorial experience, she secured the charges from the grand jury herself.

Mr. Comey was charged with making a false statement and obstruction in Senate Judiciary Committee testimony in which he denied authorizing an FBI employee to “be an anonymous source in news reports” about the FBI’s investigations into both Mr. Trump and Secretary Hillary Clinton.

“I conclude that all actions flowing from Ms. Halligan’s defective appointment, including securing and signing Mr. Comey’s indictment, constitute unlawful exercises of executive power and must be set aside,” Judge Currie added.

President Trump turned to Ms. Halligan, his former personal attorney who worked on the Mar-a-Lago documents case, after he forced out her predecessor, Erik Siebert, for resisting efforts to pursue charges against Ms. James and Mr. Comey — both longtime nemeses of the President.

In January, Mr. Siebert was appointed to lead the US Attorney’s Office in Eastern Virginia for 120 days. In May, shortly before his 120 days were set to expire, Mr. Siebert was allowed to stay in the role after the state’s Federal judges voted unanimously in his favor.

Judge Currie ruled that because Mr. Siebert had already served the 120 days, the responsibility to name his interim successor was the responsibility of the district court, not of Ms. Bondi.

“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. 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,” Judge Currie wrote..

Ms. Halligan, who most recently had been assigned to address allegations of bias and race-baiting at the Smithsonian, fired two lawyers in her office, reportedly over their reluctance to pursue charges against Ms. James, who was ultimately charged with bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution.

In a separate opinion, Judge Currie also granted Ms. James’s motion to dismiss her case, agreeing that Ms. Halligan’s appointment was a violation of the Appointments Clause. Ms. James was charged with making false statements to a financial institution and bank fraud.

Both cases were dismissed without prejudice, which gives the Justice Department another opportunity to advance cases against Mr. Comey and Ms. James.