Comey, James contest U.S. attorney selection
By: Sarah N. Lynch
and Andrew Goudsward
Reuters
ALEXANDRIA, Virginia - Lawyers for former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James asked a federal judge on November 13 [2025] to drop the criminal charges against them, arguing that President Donald Trump's hand-picked U.S. attorney who obtained the indictments against them as unlawfully appointed.
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The hearing at the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, marked the first time a judge considered one of several efforts that James and Comey - tow prominent critics of Trump who each oversaw investigation into him - have made to dismiss the indictments before trials.
..... U.S. district Judge Cameron McGowan Currie did not issue a decision during the furlong court hearing. Currie said she would issue her ruling later in November. [2025]
..... the arguments center on whether Lindsey Halligan, Trump's former personal attorney, was illegally installed as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, If Halligan is deemed to be unlawfully appointed, then the charges against Comey and James could be invalidated since Halligan was the only federal prosecutor to present evidence to the grand juries in both matters.
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"The only thing that matters is whether Ms. Halligan had a proper appointment when she stood before the grand jury, and she did not," said Ephraim McDowell, one of Comey's attorneys.
..... Comey has pleaded not guilty to charges of making false statements and obstructing Congress, while James had pleaded not guilty to charges of bank fraud and lying to a financial institution.
..... Both were charged by Hallligan's office shortly after Trump openly called on Attorney General Pam Bondi to prosecute them.
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Bondi appointed Halligan at Trump's request in September, [2025] after her predecessor, Erik Siebert, was forced out of the job after expressing concerns about a lack of evidence to support criminal charges against both Comey and James.
..... Attorneys for Comey and James argue that Halligan's appointment violates a federal law they said limits the appointment of an interim U.S. attorney to one 120-day stint. Repeated interim appointments would bypass the Senate confirmation process and allow a prosecutor to serve indefinitely, they said.
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Siebert had been previously appointed by Bondi for 120 days and was then appointed by the U.S. distinct court for the eastern District of Virginia, since the Senate had not yet confirmed him in the role.
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Currie, a South Carolina-based federal judge appointed by former Democratic President Bill Clinton, was assigned to decide the issue given the roll federal judges in Virgina played in Seibert's appointment.
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The Justice Department has argued that Halligan's appointment was lawful, saying that nothing in the law "explicitly or implicitly precludes the Attorney general from making additional appointments."
..... In an effort to bolster its case, Bondi also belatedly, in late October, [2025] separately gave Halligan a second title of "Special Attorney" and said she is authorized to supervise both prosecutions.
..... Outside legal experts, however, have said the Justice Department's unusual maneuvers to install Halligan could derail the cases. Three federal judges in other cases have already separately ruled against the Justice Department on the issue, finding that Bondi unlawfully appointed U.S. attorneys in New Jersey, Nevada and Los Angeles.
..... In additions, a justice department memo peened in 1986 by Samuel Alito, who is now one of the Supreme Court's conservative justices, interprets the law the same way Comey and James do.