What happened in federal court this week should alarm every American who still believes in the rule of law: a judge tossed the indictments against former FBI director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James after finding the prosecutor who brought the cases was unlawfully appointed. The ruling exposed an administration gambit to stack interim prosecutors and skirt Senate confirmation — a move that smells less like justice and more like political theater.
Judge Cameron Currie’s opinion was blunt: the 120-day clock on interim appointments had run, the attorney general’s authority expired, and the installation of Lindsey Halligan could not stand. That meant every action she took, including presenting the indictments to grand juries, was voided — a legal reality the Justice Department cannot paper over with retroactive titles.
We also learned in pre-trial hearings that this was no ordinary prosecution. A magistrate judge flagged serious missteps in how evidence and grand-jury material were handled, raising questions about Halligan’s experience and conduct as the prosecutor driving these politically explosive cases. Americans deserve prosecutors who know the law, not political appointees parachuted in at the eleventh hour to deliver headlines.
Let there be no confusion: the left-leaning media will wring its hands and call this a setback for accountability, but the facts matter. Comey’s indictment was brought on the heels of a rushed appointment and right before statutes of limitation deadlines, which conservative observers warned looked more like a last-minute sprint than sober justice. That timeline undermined any claim this was a dispassionate, impartial prosecution.
The ruling was issued without prejudice, meaning the government theoretically could try again, but the practical window for refiling is narrow or closed for at least some charges because of timing and statutory rules. The Justice Department says it will appeal, which means taxpayers will watch more courtroom choreography while the question policymakers should be asking is whether the department’s leaders weaponized the legal system for political ends.
Conservatives should welcome the court’s decision not because of who stands accused, but because a judge refused to let raw politics replace constitutional procedure. We must insist on an impartial Justice Department that follows the law rather than short-circuiting it to score political points. If the administration truly believes in accountability, it should pursue confirmed, career prosecutors and transparent processes, not backdoor appointments and shortcuts.
This episode ought to spark a reform conversation in Congress about how interim U.S. attorney appointments are handled and how to prevent future abuses. Patriotism means demanding fair play from our government: hold officials accountable, defend due process, and reject the weaponization of justice as a tool of partisan revenge. The American people deserve better than a system where politics decides who gets prosecuted and who gets immunity.
