US judge dismisses case against ex-FBI chief James Comey and Letitia James rebuking Trump prosecutor
Washington: A US judge on Tuesday (AEDT) tossed out criminal charges against former FBI Director James Comey based on a procedural error, an extraordinary setback for the Justice Department in a case President Donald Trump called for as part of a campaign against perceived political enemies.
US District Judge Michael Nachmanoff in Alexandria, Virginia, determined the indictment brought against Comey in September was invalid because the grand jury that approved the charges had not seen the final version of the document.
James Comey was one of three prominent critics of the Republican president indicted by Trump’s Justice Department in recent months.Credit: AP
The ruling is an embarrassing rebuke for Lindsey Halligan, a close Trump ally who took over the investigation as interim US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia despite having no previous prosecutorial experience.
Halligan, a former Trump personal lawyer, appeared alone before the grand jury after no career prosecutors agreed to sign on to the case.
Prosecution of Trump critics
Comey is one of three prominent critics of the Republican president indicted by Trump’s Justice Department in recent months, breaching long-standing norms of independence in federal investigations and sparking criticism that Trump is wielding the legal system to quash dissent.
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Comey was charged with making false statements and obstructing a congressional investigation. Prosecutors alleged he lied to the Senate Judiciary Committee during a 2020 hearing when he said he stood behind prior testimony that he had not authorised FBI leaks about investigations into Trump and his 2016 presidential election rival, Hillary Clinton.
Comey has had an antagonistic relationship with Trump since his first term in 2017, when the president fired Comey while he was overseeing an investigation into alleged ties between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia.
