Federal judge drops indictment against state Attorney General Letitia James over ‘unlawful’ appointment of Trump prosecutor

A federal judge threw out the indictment against New York State Attorney General Letitia James on Monday, ruling that the Trump administration had acted “unlawfully” in appointing the prosecutor who brought the case, Lindsey Halligan.

Senior U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie ruled in favor of James’ motion to dismiss the financial fraud indictment because Trump had improperly appointed Halligan to serve as the interim U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Virginia. The appointment, Currie said, violated the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution.