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yesterday

Justice Department Appeals Rulings That Void Comey and Letitia James Indictments

The move seeks to overturn a judge’s finding that Lindsey Halligan’s appointment as interim U.S. attorney was unlawful.

A combination of file photos show U.S. President Donald Trump in the White House in Washington, DC, U.S. April 9, 2018 and former FBI Director James Comey on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., June 8, 2017.
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New York State Attorney General Letitia James at a news conference in Manhattan on March 28, 2019. The U.S. Justice Department is appealing the dismissal of indictments against a James and former FBI Director James Comey. (Byron Smith/New York Daily News/TNS)
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Overview

  • The department filed notices of appeal on Dec. 19 to the Fourth Circuit after the Nov. 24 dismissals of both cases.
  • Senior U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie ruled Halligan’s interim appointment violated federal law and the Constitution’s Appointments Clause, requiring her actions, including the indictments, to be set aside.
  • Separate federal grand juries declined to re-indict Letitia James, returning no true bills on Dec. 4 in Norfolk and Dec. 11 in Alexandria.
  • Prosecutors face steep hurdles to reviving the Comey case because the five-year statute of limitations has run and a separate order limits use of key seized material.
  • Halligan, a former Trump lawyer with no prior prosecutorial experience who alone presented and signed the original charges, is listed on the appeals as DOJ also contends with similar appointment challenges in other districts.