A federal judge on Monday dismissed high-profile criminal indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, delivering a major blow to President Donald Trump’s efforts to prosecute officials he has long considered political adversaries. The ruling found that interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan—who secured both indictments—had been appointed illegally, rendering her actions unlawful.

The decision, issued by U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie, invalidated the entire prosecutorial process undertaken by Halligan, a 36-year-old former beauty pageant contestant and personal attorney to Trump. Halligan had no prior prosecutorial experience and was appointed to lead one of the country’s most influential U.S. attorney’s offices: the Eastern District of Virginia.

“I agree with Mr. Comey that the Attorney General’s attempt to install Ms. Halligan as Interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia was invalid,” Judge Currie wrote. “And because Ms. Halligan had no lawful authority to present the indictment, I will grant Mr. Comey’s motion and dismiss the indictment without prejudice.”

The indictments against both Comey and James were central to Trump’s second-term “law-and-order” agenda, which has included an aggressive push to bring charges against former officials involved in investigations or civil cases against him. Comey and James have remained two of the president’s most persistent targets.

Comey faced two charges—making false statements to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding—stemming from events years earlier. Letitia James was charged with bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution, following her office’s civil fraud case that resulted in a massive judgment against Trump in New York.

The ruling follows two weeks of legal arguments after Comey and James’ attorneys asserted that Halligan’s appointment violated federal law. They argued that the Attorney General—currently Pam Bondi—had no authority to appoint a second interim U.S. attorney. Under the governing statute, once the district court appointed Erik Siebert as interim U.S. attorney following Bondi’s initial temporary appointment, only the court could select a replacement when Siebert resigned.

Siebert, a career prosecutor, stepped down under pressure after reportedly resisting demands to pursue politically charged indictments against Trump’s perceived adversaries.

Bondi then quickly appointed Halligan on September 22, just eight days before the statute of limitations expired in Comey’s case. Halligan presented the case alone to the grand jury on September 25. Letitia James was indicted less than two weeks later, on October 9.

Judge Currie found the appointment illegal and rejected the Justice Department’s attempt to retroactively authorize Halligan’s actions—a maneuver Bondi undertook after questions surfaced about Halligan’s authority.

In a statement, James’s attorney Abbe Lowell sharply criticized the administration’s tactics. “The president went to extreme measures to substitute one of his allies to bring these baseless charges after career prosecutors refused,” he said. “This case was not about justice or the law.”

Although the judge dismissed the charges without prejudice—allowing the possibility of future prosecutions—Comey and James’s legal teams say they are prepared to challenge any renewed efforts they consider politically motivated.

Halligan’s background has drawn substantial scrutiny. Before joining Trump’s legal orbit during his first term, she worked as a real estate attorney and appeared in beauty pageants in her early twenties. She gained visibility as a frequent media surrogate for Trump’s legal team during investigations into classified documents and the Mar-a-Lago search in 2022.

According to CNN, Halligan had sought to reorganize the Eastern District of Virginia’s prosecutorial leadership shortly after her appointment, reinforcing perceptions that her placement was politically driven rather than merit-based.

The ruling deepens questions surrounding Attorney General Bondi’s role in Trump’s second-term legal strategy. Bondi, who previously served as Florida’s attorney general, has overseen a Justice Department that critics say has increasingly targeted political opponents while deprioritizing traditional nonpartisan investigative work.

Judge Currie’s decision is the second setback for Bondi within days. Last week, a separate federal judge criticized her for failing to review complete grand jury transcripts in the Comey case, noting that a portion of the record was missing. Bondi has denied wrongdoing.

For Trump, who campaigned heavily on holding former officials “accountable,” the ruling complicates a central political narrative: that his administration is correcting what he describes as years of corruption among law enforcement and Democratic-led state offices.

Whether the Justice Department will attempt to bring new charges through a legally appointed U.S. attorney remains uncertain. Legal experts say the window for retrying Comey’s case may now be closed due to the expiration of the statute of limitations, though James’s case could theoretically be revisited.

For now, the ruling marks a major legal and political setback for the administration—and an embarrassing collapse of one of Trump’s most highly publicized prosecutorial efforts.