The Comey indictment: a prosecutor installed to do one thing, ruled unlawful

Federal judge Cameron Currie ruled the prosecutor's appointment unconstitutional and voided the indictment; DOJ has appealed

On September 20, 2025, Trump posted publicly on Truth Social, addressed to his own attorney general: 'What about Comey, Adam 'Shifty' Schiff, Leticia???... They're all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done... We can't delay any longer, it's killing our reputation and credibility.' Days earlier, the career prosecutor handling the matter, US Attorney Erik Siebert, had declined to bring charges against former FBI Director James Comey and was pushed out. Bondi installed Lindsey Halligan, Trump's former personal defense lawyer, with no prior prosecutorial experience, as interim US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. On September 25, her fourth day in the job, Halligan personally signed an indictment against Comey on two felony counts tied to his 2020 Senate testimony, with the five-year statute of limitations set to expire within days.

An administration official later told NBC News that Trump had intended the September 20 post as a private message to Bondi rather than a public directive. It was published to his account by mistake. Whatever the intent, the effect was the same: a president publicly named three individual critics and called for their prosecution, and within days the office declining to prosecute one of them was purged and replaced with a loyalist who indicted him almost immediately.

On November 24, 2025, Judge Cameron Currie ruled that Halligan's appointment violated the federal statute governing interim US Attorneys, which requires either Senate confirmation or a valid designation Halligan did not have, and voided the indictment as a matter of law, without reaching the underlying merits of the charges. DOJ has appealed and, per reporting, twice attempted to reindict Comey using different prosecutors.

Documented

Court found unconstitutional/unlawful; DOJ appealing

Indicted 2025-09-25; dismissed 2025-11-24; appeal ongoing