(NewsNation) — A judge ordered the charges against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James be dismissed.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday the Department of Justice will appeal.
“The Department of Justice will be appealing very soon, and it is our position that Lindsey Halligan is extremely qualified for this position but more important was legally appointed to it,” Leavitt added.
The judge ruled that Acting U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, who filed the indictments, was not appointed legally. No other prosecutors signed the indictments.
“The appointment of Ms. Halligan as Interim U.S. Attorney violated 28 U.S.C. § 546 and the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution. 2. All actions flowing from Ms. Halligan’s defective appointment, including securing and signing Mr. Comey’s indictment, were unlawful exercises of executive power and are hereby set aside. 3. The Attorney General’s attempts to ratify Ms. Halligan’s actions were ineffective and are hereby set aside,” Judge Cameron McGown Currie ruled.
James was being charged with mortgage fraud, and Comey with obstruction of justice and making false statements to Congress. Both pleaded not guilty.
Comey and James argued they were being prosecuted for their criticisms of President Donald Trump and their efforts to hold him accountable.
In a break from tradition, Trump openly advocated for the Justice Department to investigate both Comey and James, along with others who have opposed him politically. Traditionally, presidents do not get involved with or comment on investigations in order to preserve the Justice Department’s independence.
In both cases, the defendants had also filed motions to have charges dismissed because they argued they were being prosecuted unconstitutionally due to the president’s personal opinions of them.
Halligan, Trump’s former personal attorney who had not previously prosecuted a case in court, was appointed after the previous prosecutor raised concerns about filing charges against Comey and James.
Court documents showed Halligan made mistakes when bringing Comey’s charges to a grand jury, including falsely stating he would not have the Fifth Amendment right to refuse to testify. The Justice Department also revealed she had not submitted the final indictment to the grand jury.
Halligan is the fourth U.S. attorney installed by Trump to have been deemed to be put in the role unlawfully.
The judge dismissed the case without prejudice, which means the Justice Department can bring charges again in the future.