President Donald Trump appointed Lindsey Halligan as the interim attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia in September 2025. Her appointment, which was encouraged by Trump and approved by Attorney General Pam Bondi, has now been ruled illegal by a federal judge. As a result, the verdict in the cases she filed against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James has been dropped.
U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie said that all actions taken by Halligan were “unlawful exercises of executive power” and must be set aside.
The judge also pointed out that Halligan’s appointment was invalid, so any actions she took while working on that case remain invalid. Moreover, the case against Comey most likely cannot be brought back, as the statute of limitations to charge him has already passed.
As per The List, this is not the first time a lawyer chosen by Donald Trump has gotten into legal trouble and grabbed the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
In August, Alina Habba, another lawyer selected by Trump, served as interim U.S. attorney; the Senate never confirmed her appointment. Habba’s appointment was also deemed illegal, and her immature approach had tagged her as one of the worst attorneys Trump ever had. But Halligan has proven herself to be far more incapable.
When Habba’s appointment was canceled by a judge, the Justice Department chose to appeal the decision. The Department will likely appeal Halligan’s case, too.
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People have questioned the administration as to why Lindsey Halligan was even appointed when the Miami Law School graduate had no experience as a prosecutor. In the case of Comey, Halligan admitted in court that she did not show the grand jury the final version of the indictment, something she should have done as part of the case.
Comey’s lawyers said this mistake alone should dismiss the case, as there was already heavy public scrutiny regarding it. For context, Comey was charged in September for lying to Congress about media leaks during the Trump-Russia investigation, while James was indicted two weeks later on mortgage fraud.
Both the influential names argued that they were targeted for political reasons, as President Donald Trump publicly claimed that Comey should be prosecuted, making it a case of personal vendetta. James Comey also said that judges had been considering claims of “vindictive prosecution” before the cases were abruptly dropped.
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While the Justice Department could try to re-indict them, it’s a complicated issue since James Comey’s window to re-appeal has expired. Yet, some lawyers claim that he may still get a six-month period to re-appeal.
In addition, Attorney General Bondi, who has upset many critics with her recent decisions, said that prosecutors would pursue “all available legal action.” Comey and James both expect further attempts by the Trump administration to bring charges.
As per Politico, after Lindsey Halligan’s removal as the interim attorney on November 24, 2025, Pam Bondi confirmed that she will remain in the U.S. Attorney’s Office as a “special attorney” to prevent other cases from suffering and being dismissed.
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The former acting U.S. attorney’s ambitious tenure ended rather badly, as her cases were ruled out and her lack of experience added an extra ingredient to spoil the entire broth.
In a time when American politics has undergone the most drastic changes, this is not the moment to risk things with poor decisions. As the world shifts its sights to all that’s been going on, the upcoming days will be politically very crucial for the Trump administration.
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