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A federal judge has ruled that Lindsey Halligan was unlawfully appointed as the interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, leading the judge to dismiss the indictments of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

The indictments are dismissed “without prejudice,” meaning they could theoretically be brought again by a lawful prosecutor.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the DOJ will appeal. James’ lawyer said they “will continue to challenge any further politically motivated charges through every lawful means available.” Comey said his prosecution was “based on malevolence and incompetence.”

U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie issued similar separate opinions on Monday in Comey’s and James’ cases explaining her decision.....

The appointment issue is just one of several motions to dismiss that Comey and James have raised in their respective cases, another big one being vindictive prosecution. The appointment issue required an out-of-district judge to handle, and the matter fell to Currie, a South Carolina judge who held a joint hearing with Comey’s and James’ lawyers and the DOJ before issuing her ruling.

Judges around the country had previously deemed unlawful the attempted installations of other lawyers to lead prosecutors’ offices in the Trump Justice Department, including Alina Habba in New Jersey. Yet that still hasn’t led to defendants being able to dismiss their cases as a result of that illegality.

“The official who purported to secure and sign the indictment was invalidly appointed to her position as interim U.S. Attorney. Because of that fundamental constitutional and statutory defect, the indictment is a nullity and must be dismissed,” Comey’s lawyers wrote in his motion to dismiss, adding that dismissal should be permanent “in order to deter the government’s willfully unlawful conduct.” Likewise in her motion, James’ lawyers wrote that dismissal is warranted because “there is no evidence that any other government attorney played a role in securing the indictment.”