A judge ruled Lindsey Halligan was unconstitutionally appointed. Donald Trump’s team doesn’t care.
The Justice Department is still signing criminal indictments with Lindsey Halligan’s name—almost a day after a judge ruled that she was unlawfully appointed as interim U.S. attorney.
Federal prosecutors were initially instructed to sign court filings in the name of Halligan’s first assistant, after U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie concluded Monday that Halligan had no authority to preside over the Eastern District of Virginia since she was never confirmed by the U.S. Senate. But just an hour later, internal emails instructed the department to continue using Halligan’s name, labeling Currie’s decision “premature,” reported MS NOW’s Lisa Rubin.
The move is a flagrant violation of Currie’s court order, which threw out Donald Trump’s cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Double jeopardy is not a factor in this situation, because the first jeopardy “does not attach” until a jury is seated and sworn in for trial, or when a guilty plea is accepted. The trial by jury is the “jeopardous” part of the criminal justice process. If the case is tossed before that point for any reason, then there is no jeopardy bar to refiling.
If a trial starts, but ends in a mistrial, then it is usually possible to go to another trial, even though jeopardy “has attached”. A mistrial ruling effectively “unwinds” the entire trial like it never happened.
This is what Judge Currie said in her opinion. The indictments didn’t happen because they were run entirely by a pretend US attorney.