Federal Judge Calls Out Pam Bondi’s Attempt at Time Travel While Disqualifying Lindsey Halligan

It should be a no-brainer that when you assume a position you are neither qualified nor authorized to take, you’re not going to get very far. But in the Trump administration—which put a conspiracy-theory-peddling podcaster as head of the FBI and a misogynist sycophant as head of the Department of Defense—anything usually goes. Unless your name is Lindsey Halligan.

In a rare good-news moment on Monday, a federal judge dismissed Halligan’s indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, saying she was “unlawfully appointed” to her post as U.S. attorney of the Eastern District of Virginia, and she had “no lawful authority to present the indictment.” Half the country understood this already, but it’s just nice to have it confirmed again. 

If you need a quick recap: in September, her predecessor, Erik Siebert, was forced out of his post for refusing to prosecute Trump’s political enemies. Shortly after, Trump announced via Truth Social that he would nominate Halligan as his replacement—and in another post, ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to immediately swear her in. (Our cognitively sound president seemingly thought he was sending a text.) Halligan had the job two days later and immediately filed an indictment against Comey for allegedly lying to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding during Russiagate. A week later, she did the same against New York AG Letitia James, for alleged bank fraud. 

“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,” District Judge Cameron Currie wrote in her dismissal of Comey’s indictment, referring to the fact that Halligan, unusually, was the only one to collect evidence and sign his indictment. “The Government attempts to counter this result with several arguments, but none is persuasive.” (Currie issued two dismissals: one that followed up on Comey’s motion to dismiss the case specifically, and one for James.)

Speaking about the decision, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called Currie a “partisan” and warned an appeal would soon come.

In October, Halligan accidentally condemned the indictments while speaking to a reporter (without realizing that the reporter would, um, report), and last week, a magistrate judge criticized her “profound investigative missteps.” And as acting U.S. attorney, Halligan was expecting a 120-day limit, but Siebert had already used them up before he was pushed out. Earlier this month, Bondi tried to cement the indictments by legitimizing Halligan—retroactively—as a special attorney, and pretending that she gave her the title when she swore her in back in September. But that effort was rinsed by Currie, who wrote “the Government has identified no authority allowing the Attorney General to reach back in time and rewrite the terms of a past appointment.” Ha!

Still, while Halligan’s disqualification is a setback for Trump’s retribution campaign, it’s almost definitely not the end. The DOJ initially rushed her Comey indictment to beat a statute of limitations that would expire September 30, and it’s unclear whether that same statute will block them now. And on Monday, Bondi confirmed that the administration will keep Halligan in her post, saying that because she appointed Halligan as a special attorney, the other cases will not be jeopardized.

“I know that Donald Trump will probably come after me again,” Comey said in an Instagram video following the news. “My attitude’s going to be the same. I’m innocent, I am not afraid, and I believe in an independent federal judiciary.”

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