According to The Wall Street Journal, a federal judge threw out the Justice Department’s cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James on Monday. The ruling determined that prosecutor Lindsey Halligan wasn’t properly appointed and had no authority to bring indictments. The Trump Administration had temporarily filled the U.S. Attorney position for the maximum 120-day period under law. But after that timeframe expired, the district court was supposed to gain appointment power under congressional legislation designed to prevent Justice Department shortages while protecting Senate confirmation authority. The administration’s rush for legal retribution ultimately led to cutting corners that invalidated the entire effort.
When rushing backfires
Here’s the thing about legal processes – they matter. The judge’s ruling basically says the Trump team was so eager to go after Comey and James that they skipped fundamental procedural steps. And when you’re talking about indicting high-profile political figures, those procedural safeguards exist for a reason. The 120-day temporary appointment rule isn’t some obscure technicality – it’s there to balance executive power with congressional oversight. So what happens when you ignore that balance? Your entire case collapses.
What this means politically
This isn’t just a legal loss – it’s a significant political embarrassment. The administration positioned these cases as accountability measures, but now they look like exactly what critics accused them of being: politically motivated lawfare. And the timing couldn’t be worse for Trump’s narrative of a weaponized justice system working against him. When your own Justice Department can’t even follow basic appointment procedures, how credible are your claims about others’ misconduct? It raises serious questions about whether this was about justice or just pure retaliation.
Where do they go from here?
Realistically, this probably ends the legal pursuit of Comey and James. The administration could theoretically try to restart the process with proper appointments, but the political damage is done. The narrative of “corrupt deep state” versus “political persecution” just got a lot messier. And with election pressures mounting, does the White House really want to spend more political capital on cases that already failed once due to their own procedural errors? Seems unlikely. Basically, this revenge tour appears to have reached its final destination – a dead end.
