James Comey and Letitia James Off the Hook – for Now

Unsurprising decision from a federal judge, but there’s more to this story.

To perhaps no one’s surprise, the indictments against both former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James have been thrown out by a federal judge. Judge Cameron Currie, a Bill Clinton appointee, made the decision Nov. 24, drawing the ire of President Donald Trump’s supporters who were hoping to finally see some real justice and perhaps a little payback. James and Comey are both vocal critics of Trump, and both used their respective positions to go after him. So, is this the anti-Trump swamp looking after its own or just a two-tier justice system in action? Perhaps either and possibly both, but a procedural hitch is what killed the indictments, and the matter is not yet closed.

James Comey was facing charges of making false statements and obstruction, while Letitia James was indicted for alleged mortgage fraud.

Judge Currie threw out the cases on the grounds that the prosecuting Interim US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Lindsey Halligan, had been improperly appointed and therefore had no authority to bring the charges. Currie was drafted in from South Carolina to handle the challenges to Halligan’s authority brought by both James Comey and Letitia James.

Justice Department Fumbles the Cases

The judge found that, since the previous interim US attorney’s term had already expired when Halligan was appointed to replace him, the authority to pick a successor lay with the district court in Virginia, and not with US Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Essentially the Department of Justice sought to get around the statute by retroactively authorizing Halligan. Currie wrote that, if Halligan’s appointment had been allowed to stand, “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.”

Halligan, a former White House aide, had no prosecutorial experience. Bondi appointed her at the urging of President Trump after he had removed the previous interim US attorney. A Justice Department lawyer, Henry Whitaker, argued that the matter of Halligan’s installation into the office was “at best a paperwork error,” and that the dismissals of the indictments against James Comey and Letitia James were unwarranted.

James Comey Preens Again – But for How Long?

Comey couldn’t help himself, of course, putting out a statement after the charges were dismissed that took a dig at the president. He expressed his gratitude to the court and described his indictment as “a prosecution based on malevolence and incompetence,” adding that it was “a reflection of what the Justice Department has become under Donald Trump, which is heartbreaking.”

James Comey, as FBI director appointed by Barack Obama and kept on by Trump when he began his first presidential term, worked against the then-45th president from the beginning. He presided over the now-discredited Crossfire Hurricane counterintelligence operation that sought to establish that Trump had colluded with the Russians to influence the 2016 election.

Letitia James campaigned for the position of New York attorney general on a vow to use her office to go after Trump. She did just that, hitting the then-former president with civil fraud charges. In heavily partisan New York, Trump was found guilty on all counts and ordered to pay insane fines totaling more than $450 million. The penalties were later thrown out.

James Comey and Letitia James are not out of the woods yet, however. Their indictments were both dismissed without prejudice, meaning that the Justice Department could seek new indictments against both after a new interim US attorney has been appointed by the Virginia district court. That seems inevitable, since neither President Trump nor his supporters will take it very well if the DOJ declines to revive the prosecutions. Bondi might as well resign if these indictments are not sought.

While justice is – supposedly – apolitical, and while everyone deserves the presumption of innocence, the president and probably everyone who voted for him in three elections want to see some accountability. So far, there has been none. For years, elected Democrats have repeated the phrase, “no one is above the law.” Trump’s DOJ will have to claim the figurative scalps of at least a couple of the people who abused their power and positions to try to destroy him. If that never happens, it will solidify the notion that, as Trump supporters have long suspected, this favorite mantra of the Democrats does not, and probably never will, apply to them.