The Justice Department asked the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday to restore fraud and false-statement indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Those cases were thrown out in November after a judge found Lindsey Halligan was not lawfully made interim U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia.
Counselor to the Attorney General Henry Whitaker told the three-judge panel that dismissing the indictments was “strong medicine.” He argued that any problem with Halligan’s title was “harmless” and that then-Attorney General Pam Bondi later retroactively ratified Halligan’s grand-jury work, which he said should fix the issue. Lawyers for Comey and James said Halligan was a private citizen when she was the only prosecutor to sign the charges and appear before the grand jury.
Judges compared that to Judge Aileen Cannon’s ruling that tossed former special counsel Jack Smith’s Mar-a-Lago case against President Trump, finding Smith was a private citizen given a U.S. attorney’s power. Whitaker said Halligan’s case is different because it involves the 120-day interim appointment law, not a special counsel.
Chief Judge Albert Diaz noted that the government did not use the other appointment laws Whitaker cited and questioned whether officials could ratify Halligan’s actions if her appointment was invalid from the start.
