Charges brought against James Comey and Letitia James are dismissed
Former FBI Director James Comey has responded after a judge ordered the Justice Department to drop charges against him.
A federal judge has ordered Lindsay Harrigan to explain why she continues to call herself a U.S. attorney despite a previous judge’s ruling that she was illegally appointed to the position.
Harrigan is President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, who was appointed by his administration to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Virginia, and is the prosecutor who last year indicted former FBI Director James Comey and former New York Attorney General Letitia James.
However, the lawsuit against Comey and James was dismissed in November 2025 after a U.S. district judge ruled that Harrigan was not legally elected to head the Eastern District of Virginia. The Department of Justice appealed this decision.
In a separate lawsuit, on January 6, U.S. District Judge David Novak of the Eastern District of Virginia, building on an earlier ruling, ordered Harrigan to submit a brief explaining why he identified himself as a U.S. attorney.
Novak’s order says Harrigan has seven days to respond and also explain why her use of her title is not a false or misleading statement.
USA TODAY reached out to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for comment on January 7, but has not yet received a response.
Who is Lindsey Harrigan? About her challenge as a U.S. attorney
In September 2025, Attorney General Pam Bondi reportedly appointed Harrigan as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, following the resignation of former Attorney General Eric Siebert.
Mr. Siebert reportedly expressed skepticism about bringing charges against Mr. Comey and Mr. James and told colleagues in an email that he was resigning. However, President Trump later said in a social media post that he had fired him.
“I fired[Siebert]. There’s a great case going on and a lot of lawyers and legal experts are saying that. Lindsey Harrigan is a really good lawyer and I really like you,” Trump said in a Truth Social post addressed to Pam.
Hours after that post, Bondi issued an order appointing Harrigan as interim chief. Harrigan had never been a prosecutor before.
Within weeks of his appointment, Mr. Harrigan’s office secured indictments against both Mr. Comey and Mr. James.
And on Nov. 24, Senior U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Curry wrote an opinion stating that only the district court has the authority to appoint a new chief justice for the Eastern District of Virginia. Curry said Harrigan was the prosecutor in both cases, and her illegal appointment led to the charges being dismissed.
Contributions: Aisha Bagchi, Bert Jansen, Josh Mayer, USA TODAY
Melina Khan is USA TODAY’s national trends reporter. Contact her at melina.khan@usatoday.com.
