Attorney General Pam Bondi is not giving up on James Comey and Letitia James as she desperately scrambles to prosecute Donald Trump’s political opponents after a judge dismissed their indictments due to a technical error.
U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie dismissed the cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James after determining that Lindsey Halligan, the interim U.S. attorney who filed the indictments, had been unlawfully appointed.
Therefore, she had no authority to bring charges. Halligan, a former Miss Colorado USA finalist with a background in insurance law and no experience in criminal trials, was appointed by Trump after her predecessor reportedly refused to prosecute the two. Currie ruled that her appointment violated federal rules on how long temporary prosecutors can serve, which rendered anything she signed legally void.
The dismissal was a significant setback for Bondi and Trump, who had called for Comey and James to face criminal charges. Comey was accused of lying to Congress about leaks concerning the Russia investigation, while James faced allegations of fraud related to mortgage documents after a civil case resulted in a hefty judgment against Trump’s business. Both defendants claimed the charges were retaliatory and politically motivated.
When the judge’s ruling was announced, Bondi promised to appeal the decision immediately. However, days later, no appeal has been filed, per Politico. Instead, sources say the Justice Department is considering giving up the fight in the appellate courts and trying to get new indictments from one or more grand juries. The idea is straightforward: if another properly appointed prosecutor signs the paperwork, the cases might get a new chance.
The career prosecutors who looked at the cases the first time around already passed, and internal reviews suggested the allegations against Comey were shaky from the start. If a new grand jury takes one look and says “no thanks,” Bondi isn’t just back to square one and she takes more flak.
The accusations against Comey come from testimony he provided in September 2020. Federal law gives prosecutors five years to file charges for false statements, and that period ended just five days before Halligan filed the now-discarded indictment. Even if a new grand jury wanted to charge him, the statute of limitations might make the case impossible to pursue.
James has flat out said she’s innocent and called the charges obvious retaliation. Civil rights groups and former DOJ officials agree, and they keep pointing to the timing, the indictment landed just days after Trump blasted out a Truth Social post complaining that “nothing is being done” about prosecuting Comey and James and prodding Bondi to move.
A former beauty pageant queen with no prosecutorial background was rushed into a significant federal position after more experienced attorneys reportedly refused to bring the charges. She approved indictments that the courts now say she had no legal right to file. Now, Bondi is working to salvage Trump’s revenge cases before they completely fall apart.
For the attorney general, every option has its drawbacks. Appealing the ruling could lead to a higher court supporting it. Dropping the cases outright may enrage Trump. Pushing for new indictments risks a grand jury declining to indict, making the entire effort look even more like the political vendetta that critics claim it is.
