Trump Appointed Prosecutor of Letitia James, James Comey Resigns Under Pressure from Judges: Can Pam Bondi Keep Cases Alive?

The departure of President Trump’s handpicked United States attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Lindsey Halligan, from the Department of Justice deepens the uncertainty around whether the former FBI director, James Comey, and New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, will ever face trial. Ms. Halligan will have to pursue an appellate course if she hopes to regain the post from which she charged Mr. Comey, with lying to Congress and Ms. James, with bank fraud in connection with a modest Norfolk home. Both of those cases were dismissed in late November when Ms. Halligan was first disqualified, though she did not resign until last night. Reviving the cases turns, for the moment, on her getting her job back — the administration is blocked in its ability to choose a replacement by the Old Dominion’s federal judges, who claim that power for themselves and have been skeptical of the James and Comey cases.The Department of Justice has appealed the disqualification of Ms. Halligan and the dismissal of those cases, and both have been consolidated for consideration by the Fourth United States Appeals Circuit. The case against Mr. Comey is complicated by the expiration of the statute of limitations applicable to his allegedly false congressional testimony. Mr. Comey contends that the passing of that deadline means that the charges against him cannot be revived, even on appeal. The government argues that that is an incorrect reading of the law, which tolls the expiration if a case is dismissed. Neither side has yet filed their appellate briefs. The attorney general, Pam Bondi, who’s paying close personal attention to the James and Comey cases, calls Ms. Halligan’s departure “a significant loss” and insists that she “will continue to serve her country in other ways.” Ms. Bondi offered a similar lament when another United States attorney, Alina Habba, was disqualified as the top federal prosecutor for New Jersey in December. Ms. Habba last week petitioned the full Third United States Appeals Circuit for reinstatement,The cases of Ms. Habba and Ms. Halligan — and other similarly situated United States attorneys whose appointments have been ruled invalid — could ultimately be decided at the Supreme Court, if the Trump administration stays the appellate course. The government claims that the power to appoint federal prosecutors is at the core of Executive branch prerogative. Ms. Halligan’s departure came hours after a blistering ruling from Judge David Novak, an appointee of Mr. Trump who nevertheless excoriated the Department of Justice for a brief, written by Ms. Bondi and her top deputy, Todd Blanche, that “contains a level of vitriol more appropriate for a cable news talk show and falls far beneath the level of advocacy expected from litigants in this Court, particularly the Department of Justice.” Judge Novak vowed that he would “not engage in a similar tit-for-tat.”Instead, Judge Novak ordered Ms. Halligan to stop representing herself as United States attorney, a position he termed “inconceivable.” In menacing tones, he writes that “In light of her inexperience, the court grants Ms. Halligan the benefit of the doubt and refrains from referring her for further investigation and disciplinary action regarding her misrepresentations to this Court at this time.” He called the continued service of Ms. Halligan, a former personal attorney for Mr. Trump whose previous government role had been addressing anti-American bias at the Smithsonian — a “charade.” So incensed was Judge Novak by Ms. Halligan’s persistence that he threatened sanctions not only against her but also “anyone who joins her on a pleading containing the improper moniker”— which could include Ms. Bondi and other high-level DOJ officials. Judge Novak castigated the DOJ for ignoring “court orders, while simultaneously prosecuting citizens for breaking the law.”Just before Judge Novak’s ruling was handed down, the chief judge for the Eastern District of Virginia, Hannah Lauck, sought to seize control of the situation, publishing a call for applications for Ms. Halligan’s job. Chief Judge Lauck, an appointee of President Obama, noted that Ms. Halligan’s interim appointment of 120 days expired on January 20. The judge ordered the clerk of the court to solicit candidates by the archaic practice of publishing “a vacancy announcement on the Court’s website and in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, The Washington Post, The Virginian-Pilot and Virginia Lawyers Weekly.”Judge Lauck wrote that “the court is soliciting expressions of interest in serving in that position” and that applications would be accepted until February 10. In the absence of a permanent appointment by way of Senate confirmation, federal law grants the judges in a district the authority to appoint a United States attorney after the expiration of an initial 120-day term.Prior to Ms. Halligan’s appointment, the judges of the Eastern District had voted to extend the 120-day term of her predecessor, Erik Siebert, a former Metropolitan police officer in the nation’s capital. Mr. Siebert resigned, reportedly over his reluctance to bring the cases against Mr. Comey and Ms. James. Mr. Trump insisted that he “fired” Mr. Siebert because of the support he enjoyed from Virginia’s two Democratic senators, Tim Kaine and Mark Warner — both ardent foes of the 47th president.The opposition of Senators Warner and Kaine means that, because of the more than century-old Senate custom known as “blue slipping,” Ms. Halligan lacks any path to confirmation. That blue slip tradition mandates that the assent of both of a state’s senators is required to proceed to a vote for United States attorneys, even if those senators are in the Senate minority. In practice that has meant a blue state embargo on Mr. Trump’s nominees. Only 31 of Mr. Trump’s second term United States attorney nominees have so far been confirmed, and there are 98 roles in total. The president advocates abolishing the blue slip custom, but Republican senators — including such grandees as Senator Charles Grassley and Majority Leader John Thune — are resistant. Days before Ms. Halligan was appointed, Mr. Trump posted a message to “Pam” that asked “What about Comey, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done. We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility.”The judges of the Eastern District of Virginia summoned a judge from South Carolina, Cameron McGowan Currie — an appointee of President Clinton — to rule on the legality of Ms. Halligan’s appointment. She ruled that statute barred Ms. Bodi from appointing a second consecutive interim appointment.California’s junior Democratic senator, Adam Schiff, who like Ms. James is being investigated for mortgage fraud, lives in Maryland — or Burbank, which he has also attested is a primary residence — where there is a different acting United States attorney, Kelly O. Hayes, who unlike Ms. Halligan has the support of the local district judges. She has yet to charge Mr. Schiff. The case is reportedly stalled.

Trump Appointed Prosecutor of Letitia James, James Comey Resigns Under Pressure from Judges: Can Pam Bondi Keep Cases Alive?

Trump Appointed Prosecutor of Letitia James, James Comey Resigns Under Pressure from Judges: Can Pam Bondi Keep Cases Alive?

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