Power Grab/Fire anyone who can stop him
A grand jury indicts James Comey five days before the statute of limitations ran out, on a case brought by a prosecutor a judge later ruled was unlawfully appointed
On September 25, 2025 Lindsey Halligan, a former Trump personal lawyer, alone presented the case; on November 24 Judge Cameron Currie dismissed the indictment without prejudice.
What happened
On September 25, 2025, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia indicted former FBI Director James Comey for false statements and obstruction over his 2020 Senate testimony, five days before the statute of limitations ran. Comey pleaded not guilty.
On September 20, Trump had posted that Attorney General Pam Bondi should prosecute Comey, Letitia James and Adam Schiff. U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert, who had told superiors the evidence was insufficient, was pushed out. On September 22 Bondi installed Lindsey Halligan, a former Trump personal lawyer with no prosecutorial experience. Halligan alone presented the case.
On November 24, 2025, Judge Cameron Currie ruled that Halligan’s appointment violated 28 U.S.C. 546 and the Appointments Clause, and dismissed the indictment without prejudice. The government appealed. Halligan had also secured an indictment of New York Attorney General Letitia James, which was dismissed with it.
Who benefited
Trump got the public spectacle of an indictment of the FBI director he fired in 2017. Halligan was handed one of the most prominent U.S. attorney posts in the country with no prosecutorial experience, and her appointment was installed three days before she brought the case.
Who wanted something
Trump demanded the prosecution in a public post addressed to his attorney general, and Justice Department leadership removed the career-minded U.S. attorney to make the case possible. The prosecution delivered on a years-long promise of retribution against a named enemy.
Who lost out
Comey faced federal charges that a court found were brought by someone with no authority to bring them. The Eastern District of Virginia’s career prosecutors were bypassed. His lawyer said the limitations period had now run.
Why it matters
A presidential demand, the removal of a prosecutor who said no, the installation of a loyalist and an indictment came within days of one another. The dismissal shows courts can still intervene, but only after the charge has been made.
Sources U.S. District Court, E.D. Va. (via CourtListener) (primary)NPRBloomberg Law