Appeals court sets September hearing over dismissal of James Comey and Letitia James cases

A federal appeals court announced Friday that it will hear arguments on Sept. 15 in Richmond, Virginia, over the Trump administration’s effort to revive criminal cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. The development marks the latest escalation in the Justice Department’s fight to revive the cases against […]

A federal appeals court announced Friday that it will hear arguments on Sept. 15 in Richmond, Virginia, over the Trump administration’s effort to revive criminal cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

The development marks the latest escalation in the Justice Department’s fight to revive the cases against Comey and James, which were separately brought by former interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan. A judge dismissed both cases last fall, ruling that Halligan had been unlawfully appointed after the White House stalled on submitting her official nomination to the Senate for confirmation.

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The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has not yet identified the three judges who will hear the appeal. The panel will be disclosed the morning of oral arguments.

Senior U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie, a nominee of former President Bill Clinton, dismissed the indictments after finding Halligan lacked lawful authority to lead the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Her orders left open the possibility that the Justice Department could seek new charges through a lawfully appointed prosecutor.

A grand jury indicted Comey in September 2025, accusing him of making a false statement and obstructing Congress during 2020 Senate testimony about the disclosure of sensitive information. James was separately indicted one month later after a criminal referral alleged that she committed bank fraud and made false statements to a financial institution in connection with a mortgage on a Norfolk, Virginia, home. Both pleaded not guilty before their cases were dismissed.

The 4th Circuit consolidated the cases for the limited purpose of deciding whether Halligan had authority to bring them. Currie concluded that Halligan’s appointment violated the federal statute governing interim U.S. attorneys as well as the Constitution’s appointments clause.

The administration has argued the dismissals should be overturned, setting up a high-stakes test of Trump’s use of temporary prosecutors in key federal offices. The 4th Circuit’s decision could determine whether the administration may press ahead with the Comey and James prosecutions or whether it must start over under a prosecutor whose appointment survives legal scrutiny.

The cases are separate from another criminal indictment against Comey in North Carolina over an Instagram photograph he posted last summer that showed seashells arranged to read “8647.” A federal grand jury in April indicted Comey on allegations that the post was a serious expression of intent to harm President Donald Trump.

Former FBI Director James Comey speaks at the University of Chicago Law School for the 2019 Ulysses and Marguerite Schwartz Memorial Lecture on Oct. 29, 2019, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

U.S. District Judge Louise Flanagan, a nominee of former President George W. Bush, has scheduled that trial for Oct. 21 in New Bern, North Carolina, if the case survives anticipated motions to dismiss. Comey’s arraignment is scheduled for Sept. 30.

Meanwhile, the September argument before the 4th Circuit comes as the Eastern District of Virginia undergoes another leadership change. This week, the DOJ named veteran Virginia prosecutor Theo Stamos the first assistant U.S. attorney for the district, a role that will make her acting U.S. attorney under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act.

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Stamos, a former Arlington County and Falls Church commonwealth’s attorney who later served as a top adviser to Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, is expected to begin Monday, according to the Washington Post.

The office has been without a Senate-confirmed U.S. attorney for months amid a prolonged dispute between the Trump administration and the district’s federal judges over who can fill the vacancy. Halligan stepped down in January after criticism from U.S. District Judge David Novak, and the judges’ subsequent appointment of James W. Hundley was short-lived after the Justice Department removed him within hours.

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