Zero Hedge

Judge Dismisses Cases Against Comey, Letitia James

Judge Dismisses Cases Against Comey, Letitia James

A federal judge has dismissed cases against former FBI Director James Comey and NY Attorney General Letitia James, after finding that US Attorney Lindsey Halligan was unlawfully appointed to the role, and that AG Pam Bondi cannot ratify her actions.

Judge Cameron McGowan Currie, a Clinton appointee, dismissed the case without prejudice over Halligan's appointment, meaning the DOJ can try again when they get their act together. 

"I conclude that all actions flowing from Ms. Halligan's defective appointment, including securing and signing Ms. James's indictment, constitute unlawful exercises of executive power and must be set aside," the judge wrote in an order in James' case.

While the White House says they'll appeal, the statute of limitations has already passed for Comey's case - which Judge Currie noted in a footnote that the DOJ could not bring a similar indictment against him, as "there is no legitimate peg on which to hang such a judicial limitations-tolling result" with a voided indictment. 

As the Epoch Times notes, the Justice Department had argued that even if Halligan’s appointment were invalid, the indictments should stand because they were approved by Attorney General Pam Bondi. Currie rejected that premise and described Bondi’s attempts to ratify Halligan’s actions as “ineffective.”

Currie’s decision focused on 28 U.S. Code Section 546, which allows interim attorneys to serve for 120 days, further providing that district courts “may appoint” a U.S. attorney to fill vacancies at the end of that timeframe if the Senate has not already appointed a replacement.

During a hearing on Nov. 13, the Justice Department argued that the law did not confine the attorney general to an initial 120 days for appointing prosecutors. Rather, it said, the law allowed for successive appointments of attorneys who would each have 120-day limits on their time in office.

Comey pleaded not guilty to charges that he lied to Congress during a 2020 hearing and obstructed their proceeding.

As Axios notes;

  • The indictment against Comey came as the statute of limitations was set to expire. Trump ousted U.S. attorney Erik Siebert, who had reportedly believed there was not enough evidence to bring a case against Comey or New York Attorney General Letitia James.
  • Trump replaced Siebert with Lindsey Halligan, who had previously worked for him. She is now serving as the interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia despite having no prosecutorial experience.
  • Judge William Fitzpatrick warned in a November opinion that "a disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps" could have undermined the proceedings, leaving the indictment in jeopardy.

Developing...

Tyler Durden Mon, 11/24/2025 - 12:48

'Great Deal For US Farmers': Trump Says Relationship With China 'Extremely Strong', Will Visit Xi In April

'Great Deal For US Farmers': Trump Says Relationship With China 'Extremely Strong', Will Visit Xi In April

Update (1240ET): President Trump has just posted on his Truth Social feed, breaking down his 'debrief' on the call with China's Xi: (emphasis ours)

I just had a very good telephone call with President Xi, of China.

We discussed many topics including Ukraine/Russia, Fentanyl, Soybeans and other Farm Products, etc.

We have done a good, and very important, deal for our Great Farmers — and it will only get better.

Our relationship with China is extremely strong!

This call was a follow up to our highly successful meeting in South Korea, three weeks ago.

Since then, there has been significant progress on both sides in keeping our agreements current and accurate. Now we can set our sights on the big picture.

To that end. President Xi invited me to visit Beijing in April, which I accepted, and I reciprocated where he will be my guest for a State Visit in the U.S. later in the year.

We agreed that it is important that we communicate often, which I look forward to doing. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

We do note that there was no mention of Taiwan in President Trump's breakdown.

*  *  *

At a moment US-ally Japan is in a rare full-blown diplomatic and (increasingly) military showdown with China, the country's President Xi Jinping held a phone call with US President Donald Trump on Monday, both sides have confirmed. The last time the two leaders met and talked in detail, which was on the sidelines Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in late October, they had declared a "tariff truce" in an effort to de-escalate trade tensions.

But the Taiwan issue is once again taking center stage, at a moment Tokyo has quite provocatively decided to place medium-range missiles on an island which lies less than 70 miles east of Taiwan. The White House has so far into its term been relatively quite on the issue.

Trump, rather than stoking tensions further, appears to be striking a conciliatory position: 

Chinese leader Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump discussed bilateral cooperation and the issue of Taiwan in a phone call on Monday, Beijing's state news agency Xinhua reported.

Xi told Trump that the two countries should "maintain momentum in ties" after the two leaders met last month in South Korea, and "stressed that Taiwan's return to China is an important part of the post-war international order", according to Xinhua.

And so it appears Trump is content to maintain Washington's longstanding doctrine of 'strategic ambiguity' regarding the Taiwan crisis. Trump's Taiwan policy has been a big question mark, but arguably this is precisely what strategic ambiguity seeks to convey. 

Via Reuters

Still, MIT has featured some recent analysis, also citing the non-interventionist Quincy Institute, suggesting Trump could be ready to abandon the US policy which has been in place for decades:

Despite uncertainty in the Trump administration’s China policy, dangerous trends across the Taiwan Strait continue to raise the chance of crisis. Tensions are deepening in the overall U.S.–China relationship, and the credibility of Washington’s One China policy and Beijing’s support for peaceful unification is mutually eroding. While China continues to expand its military capabilities and intimidate Taiwan, the U.S. is keen to mobilize its regional alliances to enhance warfighting against China.

These developments raise the question of whether the longstanding U.S. policy of strategic ambiguity, which contains the possibility of U.S. military intervention to defend Taiwan against China, remains the best approach to preventing war over the island.

Quincy Institute senior research fellow Michael Swaine recently published two policy briefs arguing that Taiwan is not a sufficiently vital interest for the United States to go to war over. He contends that Washington should begin transitioning to a policy beyond strategic ambiguity — a new approach that seeks to enhance support for Taiwan but rules out the possibility of joining a war over the island.

And Nikkei has recently published a report in a similar vein, suggesting Trump could be listening more to those voices which urge a more hands-off approach in China's backyard, and that the US would be unwilling ultimately to commit military forces to aid in the self-ruled island's immediate defense:

Trump's rhetorical vagueness on Taiwan, compounded by the continued absence of any authoritative policy documents on the topic, has prompted observers to look elsewhere for possible reflections of the administration's views.

One such report that has gone viral on both sides of the Taiwan Strait came from researchers at my former home organization, RAND. Their report from last month, "Stabilizing the U.S.-China Rivalry," contained the following sentence within its recommendations: "Stabilizing the Taiwan issue should focus on creating the maximum incentive for Beijing to pursue gradual approaches toward unification [my emphasis added]." Although it seems like the authors are advocating Chinese unification with Taiwan, this is hardly the case. Rather, they were highlighting the importance of slowing Beijing's unification efforts down and basically encouraging Washington to trick China into thinking this is possible, even if the U.S. would still severely complicate forceful unification, to buy more time for the uneasy status quo to persist.

Despite Trump not having raised the issue much with Xi, there have still been a couple of Trump-approved weapons sales to Taipei of late. For now though it looks like Trump is playing nice with Xi on the issue, given the sensitivity of the subject could sour positive momentum in trade relations.

Tyler Durden Mon, 11/24/2025 - 12:45

"Never Had These Problems Before": Violent Illegal Street Takeover Rocks Queens Neighborhood, Terrifying Residents

"Never Had These Problems Before": Violent Illegal Street Takeover Rocks Queens Neighborhood, Terrifying Residents

A late-night illegal street takeover in Queens, New York, over the weekend turned extremely violent when a private security guard attempting to intervene was assaulted, and his vehicle was set on fire. The incident highlights the growing public-safety crisis in Democrat-run cities and may only suggest what's to come under Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani. 

City Councilwoman Vickie Paladino, who represents the neighborhood of Malba, a small, wealthy residential area in northeastern Queens, was absolutely disgusted by the lawlessness...

On X, Paladino raged: 

Last night in Malba, a large group of individuals from outside my district conducted an illegal 'takeover' of a quiet residential street at approximately 12:30am. This is not the first time it's happened.

A private security guard attempted to calm the situation -- he was assaulted by the mob and his vehicle was set on fire. He suffered significant injuries. A local resident was also assaulted.

Response to this incident was less than ideal. Residents reporting the incident to 911 were told that 'quality of life team' and 311 should handle the situation. Unacceptable. In fact, these violent street takeovers should be met with maximum force by the police department.

We have NEVER had these problems before. Now it's an epidemic. What changed? We stopped arresting criminals.

I am meeting this morning with the chief of department and the local precinct at the scene to discuss exactly what happened last night. I have already been assured that Malba will receive four dedicated patrol cars from this point forward, as well as additional security upgrades that we cannot disclose.

However, the city MUST do something to stop this lawlessness. All the speed cameras in the world do absolutely NOTHING to prevent these incidents -- we need police response and the most severe consequences for these criminals, not to simply allow them to drive away after they've completed their mayhem.

These incidents are happening citywide, and they're happening because there are no longer any real consequences to this kind of criminality. But let me make something very clear to the criminals -- you are risking your lives bringing this chaos into our neighborhoods.

I know for a fact there were multiple armed residents who exercised extreme restraint last night, however that level of restraint is not guaranteed. If the city refuses to do what's necessary, the people might.

Once again I want to urge any residents of my district who are interested in obtaining their carry or premises permits to contact my office. We are offering assistance with the application process and legal fees to all who wish to exercise their constitutional right to self protection.

Paladino posted another view of the mob attack:

More chaos. 

This latest incident of lawlessness in NYC comes just as far-left Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani prepares to take control of City Hall. Though he's recently tried to soften his past "defund the police" rhetoric, his decision to tap radical leftist anti-cop activist Elena Leopold to his transition team tells a different story. 

Mamdani's policy framework mirrors the same nation-killing agenda of the Democratic Party, weakening law enforcement, opening all borders, shielding illegal aliens, promoting the climate crisis hoax agenda, and doubling down on the failed social and criminal-justice experiments that have hollowed out public safety across the country and, in some cases, sparked national security threats. 

The result, well, more NYC outflows to red states... 

Tyler Durden Mon, 11/24/2025 - 12:25

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