Comey, 64, called the dismissal of the lawsuit a sign “that the president of the United States cannot use the Justice Department to target his political opponents.” He called on all US citizens to stand up for the rule of law. The former FBI chief is considered one of Trump’s main opponents: Comey had investigated alleged Russian interference in Trump’s first presidential election campaign and was subsequently fired by the Republican in his first term in office in May 2017.
New York Attorney General James, 67, called Trump’s allegations against her “baseless” and said she would “continue to remain fearless.” James had pushed forward a fraud case against Trump over allegedly inflated assets of his real estate holding company.
At the end of September, Trump called on the US Department of Justice to initiate proceedings against his personal opponents. The indictment then accused Comey of, among other things, false testimony to Congress and James of bank fraud.
However, federal judge Cameron McGowan Currie has now ruled that the prosecutor Lindsey Halligan, who was entrusted by the Justice Department with the two cases, was unlawfully appointed. She therefore had “no legal authority” to submit the indictment. Judge Currie emphasized that Halligan was “a former White House staffer with no prior experience as a prosecutor.”
The Justice Department appointed former Trump lawyer Halligan to handle the charges in a fast-track procedure. The lawyer, who actually specialized in insurance law, succeeded US Attorney Erik Siebert, who had rejected the investigation as unfounded and therefore resigned.
Last week, another federal judge also found serious “investigative errors” in the case against Comey. Judge William Fitzpatrick found that the inexperienced prosecutor Halligan fundamentally misrepresented the law.
Comey and James have filed additional motions to dismiss the cases. They accuse Trump of a personally motivated vendetta. The judiciary has not yet commented on these arguments.
Judge Currie basically gave the Justice Department the possibility of new charges against the two Trump opponents. In the Comey case, however, the statute of limitations for the original allegations expired at the end of September.
Justice Minister Bondi announced that she would take “all possible legal action.” This also includes filing an appeal so that Comey and James are held “accountable”.
Observers believe it is possible that both cases will end up before the US Supreme Court. Conservative judges have a majority in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Trump in a number of controversial cases.
Trump’s former security advisor John Bolton has also found himself in the crosshairs of the judiciary. The prosecution accuses him of illegally passing on secret information. Bolton was national security adviser during Trump’s first term (2017 to 2021) and later became a critic of the right-wing populist.
