WASHINGTON, D.C. — Following is a statement by Amb. Norm Eisen (ret.), executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund, regarding today’s ruling by a federal court that Lindsey Halligan’s appointment to U.S. Attorney was unlawful. The court dismissed the indictments of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James without prejudice, finding that all actions flowing from Halligan’s defective appointment — including securing and signing Comey and James’ indictments — were “unlawful exercises of executive power and must be set aside.”

“Lindsey Halligan abused her authority at the Department of Justice and exploited our criminal justice system to target critics and perceived enemies of Donald Trump. Targeting political opponents is illegal. Doing so without any real legal authority is corrupt. No matter how much Donald Trump wants a personal strike force, the president and Attorney General Bondi cannot sidestep Congress and install political allies in powerful law enforcement roles without legal authority.”

Last month, Eisen, who served in the Obama White House, joined other White House ethics lawyers Richard Painter (Bush) and Virginia Canter (Clinton and Obama) in filing a formal complaint with the DOJ Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility. The complaint explained that the White House handpicked Lindsey Halligan, a loyalist with no prosecutorial experience, to bring criminal charges against Comey and James. Those charges were brought after career prosecutors had already rejected indictments. Halligan was appointed interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia after Trump reportedly fired her predecessor for refusing to bring the cases.

DDF also successfully challenged the appointment of Alina Habba, interim U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey. In that case, filed with Lowell & Associates, a judge ruled she was unlawfully serving in the role.

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Democracy Defenders Fund brings together a nonpartisan team to work with national, state, and local allies across the country to defend in real-time the foundations of our democracy.