"A federal judge is generally reluctant to appear in a leading role in a public farce, unless it is part of the entertainment at a retirement smoker for a fellow judge. Early on, Currie realized that she was being asked to be one of the lead clowns in a theatrical manifestation of the president's deranged vengeance. She turned down the part on Monday."
"The judge noted that Ms. Halligan and her predecessor, Erik S. Siebert, were serving in an interim capacity. But the attorney general is permitted to appoint only one interim U.S. attorney to serve for a temporary 120-day period, Judge Currie noted. It would mean the government could send any private citizen off the streetattorney or notinto the grand jury room to secure an indictment so long as the attorney general gives her approval after the fact, she wrote. That cannot be the law."
Judge Cameron McGowan Currie dismissed two charges against former FBI Director James Comey after finding the attorney general's appointment of Ms. Halligan as interim U.S. attorney invalid. Ms. Halligan lacked lawful authority to present the indictment, so the court granted Comey's motion and dismissed the indictment without prejudice. The judge noted that both Ms. Halligan and her predecessor served in interim capacities and emphasized that the attorney general may appoint only one interim U.S. attorney for a temporary 120-day period. The court warned that allowing otherwise would permit retroactive approval of private citizens to present indictments and indicated appeals are likely.
Read at www.esquire.com
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