Federal judge dismisses indictments against Letitia James and James Comey, saying Lindsey Halligan appointment was unlawful

A federal judge dismissed the indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James on Monday.

The judge found that President Donald Trump’s appointment of interim US Attorney Lindsey Halligan in Alexandria, Virginia, was invalid.

Trump handpicked Halligan for the role amid increasing pressure to bring criminal cases against his political enemies, including Comey and James.

“The Attorney General’s attempt to install Ms. Halligan as Interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia was invalid,” Judge Cameron McGowan Currie wrote in her Monday order.

According to Currie, “all actions flowing from Ms. Halligan’s defective appointment” including the indictments against Comey and James “were unlawful exercises of executive power and are hereby set aside.”