U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Monday called for renewed legal measures against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James after their cases were dismissed by a federal judge.
Her remarks followed a decision by U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie, who threw out the criminal charges lodged against Comey and James.
Currie determined that Lindsey Halligan, the prosecutor responsible for bringing the indictments, had not been properly appointed to her position.
Currie sided with attorneys for Comey, who maintained that Halligan’s temporary role as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia was not legitimate, rendering the indictments legally invalid.
In Monday’s ruling, Currie lambasted Halligan for “prosecutorial misconduct,” describing her as “a former White House aide” who never met the criteria required for the position.
BREAKING: AG Pam Bondi confirms an appeal is underway after a judge dismissed cases against James Comey and Letitia James.
“We’ll be taking all available legal action, including an immediate appeal, to hold them accountable.”
No one is above the law.
pic.twitter.com/2jPOJ9jNtT— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) November 24, 2025
The former President Bill Clinton appointed judge concluded that the 120-day limit governing interim appointments had passed under the prior acting U.S. Attorney, meaning Bondi lacked the authority to install Halligan, which instead belonged to the district’s federal judiciary.
“The 120-day clock began running with Mr. Siebert’s appointment on January 21, 2025. When that clock expired on May 21, 2025, so too did the Attorney General’s appointment authority,” Currie wrote.
“I conclude that all actions flowing from Ms Halligan’s defective appointment, including securing and signing Mr Comey’s indictment, constitute unlawful exercises of executive power and must be set aside,” the judge added.
Although the Justice Department stood behind Halligan’s appointment, it acknowledged last month that she had also been given a separate role as a “Special Attorney,” a move seemingly intended to protect the indictments from potential dismissal.
But according to Currie the after-the-fact designation could not remedy the underlying defect.
“The implications of a contrary conclusion are extraordinary,” Currie wrote. “It would mean the Government could send any private citizen off the street — attorney or not — into the grand jury room to secure an indictment so long as the Attorney General gives her approval after the fact. That cannot be the law.”
In two parallel decisions, the judge found that Halligan’s invalid appointment required the cases to be thrown out.
“All actions flowing from Ms. Halligan’s defective appointment,” including the indictments against Comey and James, “were unlawful exercises of executive power and are hereby set aside,” Currie wrote.
Halligan had been tapped as interim U.S. Attorney for the district last September after her predecessor, Erik Siebert, was ousted amid demands from President Trump to pursue cases against political opponents.
Trump proceeded to nominate Halligan and urged Bondi to take action against both Comey and James.
Comey was indicted three days after Halligan took her oath of office, while James was charged roughly two weeks later.
“We’ll be taking all available legal action, including an immediate appeal, to hold Letitia James and James Comey accountable for their unlawful conduct,” Bondi told reporters.
“I’m not worried about someone who has been charged with a very serious crime,” she continued. “His alleged actions were a betrayal of public trust.”
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Comey had been charged in September 2025 with making false statements to Congress and obstructing a congressional investigation connected to his 2018 testimony regarding the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane inquiry into potential links between the Trump 2016 campaign and Russia.
Comey has consistently rejected the allegations, insisting that his testimony had been honest and labeling the case “a political hit job, not a pursuit of justice.”
James was indicted a month after Comey, accused in a separate case of mortgage and bank fraud for allegedly portraying a Virginia property as a second residence in 2020 in order to obtain more advantageous loan terms. Prosecutors contend she gained nearly $19,000 over the lifetime of the loan.
Defense attorneys for both defendants challenged the legitimacy of the prosecutions, citing procedural irregularities and the dispute over Halligan’s authority to act as U.S. Attorney.
Halligan — previously a legal adviser to Trump — was the sole federal prosecutor to sign Comey’s charging documents, functioning as the top federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of Virginia at the time.
In Memphis on Monday, Bondi spoke out in support of Halligan, arguing that her qualifications and conduct had been misrepresented.
“We have made Lindsay Halligan a special US attorney so she is in court, she can fight in court just like she was, and we believe we will be successful on appeal,” Bondi commented. “Shame on them for not wanting her in office.”
“And I’ll tell you, Lindsay Halligan, I talked to all of our US attorneys, the majority of them around the country, and Lindsay Halligan is an excellent US attorney. And shame on them for not wanting her in office. Thank you,” she added.
Bondi’s defense of Halligan was notable, as reports previously indicated she had been caught off-guard when Halligan brought indictments against both James and Comey directly to a grand jury.
Earlier accounts suggested Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche had viewed the mortgage case against James as soft.
In a statement responding to the dismissals, James said, “I am heartened by today’s victory and grateful for the prayers and support I have received from around the country.”
“I remain fearless in the face of these baseless charges as I continue fighting for New Yorkers every single day,” James remarked.
BREAKING: James Comey just released a scathing statement against Donald Trump after then malicious case brought against him by Trump was thrown out. pic.twitter.com/jdWb5XURch
— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) November 24, 2025
Comey, in a video message, added, “I am grateful that the court ended the case against me, which was a prosecution based on malevolence and incompetence and a reflection of what the Justice Department has become under Donald Trump, which is heartbreaking.”
Despite the defense requests for the cases to be dismissed with prejudice, which would have prohibited prosecutors from refiling them, Currie dismissed the indictments without prejudice, giving the Justice Department the option to attempt bringing the charges again.
“The facts of the indictments against Comey and James have not changed and this will not be the final word on the matter,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson acknowledged.
