United States District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie dismissed the federal government’s indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, ruling that President Donald Trump unlawfully appointed his personal attorney, Lindsey Halligan, as interim U.S. attorney.
“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,” the judge wrote on Monday.
UPDATE: The full ruling is here. Here’s a pretty strong nugget:
In light of these principles, 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. There is simply “no alternative course to cure the unconstitutional problem.”
