DOJ appeals rulings that tossed James Comey and Letitia James cases

The Justice Department appealed a judge's orders that dismissed high-profile criminal cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

The department filed notices of appeal Dec. 19 to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in both cases. The appeal comes after Senior U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie ruled that Lindsey Halligan, a former personal lawyer to President Donald Trump, was unlawfully appointed interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia on Sept. 22 by Attorney General Pam Bondi.

The Justice Department filed the appeals after trying and failing twice in two weeks to obtain a new indictment against Letitia James. Federal grand juries in Virginia rejected the attempts on Dec. 4 and Dec. 11.

The department has also faced mounting struggles in trying to prosecute Comey. After the dismissal of his initial indictment, a federal judge ruled that the DOJ can't use evidence that was key to those charges unless and until it obtains a lawful warrant.

Halligan was the only prosecutor to present the government's cases to the grand juries that indicted Comey and James, and only Halligan's signature appears on the two indictments. Currie ruled that because Halligan's appointment was invalid, all her actions as the purported interim U.S. attorney needed to be rolled back. That included the securing of charges in the Comey and James cases.

"I conclude that all actions flowing from Ms. Halligan’s defective appointment... constitute unlawful exercises of executive power and must be set aside," Currie wrote in separate opinions for each case.

Comey was charged with lying to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding when he testified before a Senate committee in 2020. James was charged with bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution. Both pleaded not guilty.

A federal grand jury indicted Comey five days after Trump posted on social media Sept. 20 that Comey, James, and California Democratic Senator Adam Schiff were "all guilty as hell" and delay was not an option. The president didn't specify what the three targets were guilty of. James was indicted within three weeks of that post.

Bondi appointed Halligan Sept. 22 to lead the Virginia prosecuting office after the previous head, Erik Siebert, left his role a few days earlier. Siebert reportedly expressed skepticism about bringing charges against Comey or James. He told colleagues in an email that he had resigned, although Trump later said he fired him.

Before her appointment, Halligan had never been a prosecutor before.