Following the dismissal of the previous criminal proceedings against James B. Comey and Letitia James by a federal court last week, the US Department of Justice is reportedly considering the prospect of filing new indictments against them.
Both were charged with major felonies in the previous proceedings: James was charged with bank fraud and fabricating papers relating to mortgages, while Comey was charged with making false statements to Congress and interfering with a congressional proceeding. When the court determined that Lindsey Halligan, the prosecutor who brought the indictments, had been improperly appointed, it revoked her right to file the charges and threw out the cases.
Now that the indictments have been declared illegal “without prejudice,” the Justice Department seems to be exploring other options, such as appealing the judge’s ruling or re-filing the cases through duly appointed prosecutors. According to legal strategists, a fresh push might occur this week.
However, the path ahead is not easy. The statute of limitations may prevent further charges in Comey’s case, but the government may try to re-present the case through new grand jury procedures. For James, re-indictment seems more likely given his separate mortgage-fraud charges.
Many in Washington view this as a test of the institutional process: whether the DOJ would pursue politically charged, high-stakes cases and whether it can do so without the procedural errors that caused the previous wave to fail.