BREAKING: Judge Throws Out Comey And James Cases–Rules That Lindsay Halligan Was Hired Illegally
Currie denied the defendants’ request to bar the Justice Department from seeking to indict them again under a lawfully appointed prosecutor. In Comey’s case, however, she suggested their time to do so hasrun out.
“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,” she said in her written opinion. “There is simply ‘no alternative course to cure the unconstitutional problem.’”
A spokesperson for the Justice Department did not immediately return calls for comment. However, department officials are all but certain to appeal.
Currie, an appointee of President Bill Clinton normally based in South Carolina, was specially assigned to rule on the validity of Halligan’s appointment as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Her decision delivered rebukes to the Justice Department on two fronts.
By declaring Halligan’s appointment invalid, Currie joined several other judges in rejecting legal arguments the Trump administration has used to install loyalists in top prosecutorial positions across the country.
The judge’s decision to go further and dismiss the cases against Comey and James complicates Trump’s efforts to deploy the Justice Department in furtherance of his desire for retribution.
