{"id":173113,"date":"2025-11-25T08:47:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T08:47:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/trump-news-at-a-glance-james-comey-letitia-james-welcome-judges-decision-to-toss-criminal-cases-the-guardian\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T08:47:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T08:47:12","slug":"trump-news-at-a-glance-james-comey-letitia-james-welcome-judges-decision-to-toss-criminal-cases-the-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/trump-news-at-a-glance-james-comey-letitia-james-welcome-judges-decision-to-toss-criminal-cases-the-guardian\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump news at a glance: James Comey, Letitia James welcome judge\u2019s decision to toss criminal cases &#8211; The Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Federal judge calls justice department\u2019s actions \u2018unlawful exercises of executive power\u2019 because prosecutor was unlawfully appointed \u2013 key US politics stories from Monday 24 November at a glance<br \/>A federal judge <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.vaed.582136\/gov.uscourts.vaed.582136.213.0_1.pdf\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">threw out <\/a>the criminal cases against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/james-comey\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">James Comey<\/a> and<a href=\"http:\/\/courtlistener.com\/docket\/71601414\/140\/united-states-v-james\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\"> Letitia James <\/a>on Monday, concluding that the prosecutor handling the case was unlawfully appointed.<br \/>Lindsey Halligan, who Trump named the interim US attorney for the eastern district of Virginia in September, had \u201cno lawful authority to present the indictment\u201d against the former FBI director and New York attorney general, Judge Cameron McGowan Currie, wrote in her opinion.<br \/>She added that \u201call actions flowing from Ms Halligan\u2019s defective appointment\u201d were \u201cunlawful exercises of executive power and must be set aside\u201d.<br \/>The decision is a major win for Comey, who was charged with lying to Congress five years ago, and James, who was charged with mortgage fraud. Both unequivocally denied wrongdoing and said the cases were a thinly veiled effort by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/trump-administration\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Trump administration<\/a> to punish them for opposing the president.<br \/>Currie dismissed both cases \u201cwithout prejudice\u201d, which means the government could theoretically try to bring the charges again under a properly appointed US attorney. But it is unclear if they could even do that in Comey\u2019s case because the statute of limitations for the crime he is charged with passed on 30 September 2025.<br \/>\u201cI am heartened by today\u2019s victory and grateful for the prayers and support I have received from around the country,\u201d James said in a statement. \u201cI remain fearless in the face of these baseless charges as I continue fighting for New Yorkers every single day.\u201d<br \/>Comey also praised the decision.<br \/>\u201cI\u2019m grateful that the court ended the case against me which was a prosecution based on malevolence and incompetence,\u201d he said in <a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/inbox\/post\/179849788?utm_source=podcast-email&amp;publication_id=4751198&amp;post_id=179849788&amp;play_audio=true&amp;utm_campaign=email-play-on-substack&amp;utm_content=watch_now_button&amp;r=16z5v&amp;triedRedirect=true&amp;utm_medium=email\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">a recorded video<\/a>. \u201cThis case mattered to me personally, obviously, but it matters most because a message has to be sent that the president of the United States cannot use the Department of Justice to target his political enemies.\u201d<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2025\/nov\/24\/james-comey-letitia-james-charges-case-dismissed\" data-link-name=\"in body link\"><sub class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Read the full story<\/sub><\/a><br \/>Ukraine has significantly amended the US \u201cpeace plan\u201d to end the conflict, removing some of Russia\u2019s maximalist demands, people familiar with the negotiations said, as European leaders warned that no deal could be reached quickly.<br \/>Volodymyr Zelenskyy may meet Donald Trump in the White House later this week, sources indicated, amid a flurry of calls between Kyiv and Washington. Ukraine is pressing for Europe to be involved in the talks.<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2025\/nov\/24\/zelenskyy-trump-meeting-revised-us-peace-plan-ukraine-russia\" data-link-name=\"in body link\"><sub class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Read the full story<\/sub><\/a><br \/>The Pentagon says it is investigating the Arizona senator Mark Kelly for possible breaches of military law after the federal lawmaker joined a handful of other <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/democrats\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Democrats<\/a> in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2025\/nov\/20\/democrats-condemn-trump-military-video-post\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">a video<\/a> calling for US troops to refuse unlawful orders.<br \/>It is extraordinary for the Pentagon to directly threaten a sitting member of Congress with investigation. Until <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/donaldtrump\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s second presidency, the institution in charge of the US military had usually <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2025\/nov\/17\/trump-politicizing-military-report\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">strived to appear<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2025\/nov\/22\/trump-military-veterans\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">apolitical<\/a>.<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2025\/nov\/24\/pentagon-investigation-mark-kelly-arizona\" data-link-name=\"in body link\"><sub class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Read the full story<\/sub><\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/donaldtrump\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Trump<\/a> began the process of designating certain <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/muslim-brotherhood\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Muslim Brotherhood<\/a> chapters as foreign terrorist organizations and specially designated global terrorists, a move would bring sanctions against one of the Arab world\u2019s oldest and most influential Islamist movements.<br \/>Trump signed an executive order directing secretary of state <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/marco-rubio\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Marco Rubio<\/a> and treasury secretary Scott Bessent to submit a report on whether to designate any Muslim Brotherhood chapters, such as those in Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan, according to a White House factsheet. It orders the secretaries to move forward with any designations within 45 days of the report.<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2025\/nov\/24\/trump-muslim-brotherhood-terrorist-designation\" data-link-name=\"in body link\"><sub class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Read the full story<\/sub><\/a><br \/>Venezuela\u2019s government has accused the US of peddling \u201cridiculous hogwash\u201d about its supposed role in sponsoring \u201cnarco-terrorism\u201d as Washington continued to turn up the heat on Nicol\u00e1s Maduro\u2019s regime and leftwing European politicians warned South America faced being plunged into \u201ca torrent of bloodshed\u201d.<br \/>The Trump administration officially <a href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/releases\/office-of-the-spokesperson\/2025\/11\/terrorist-designations-of-cartel-de-los-soles\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">designated a Venezuelan group known as the \u201cCartel de los Soles\u201d (the Cartel of the Suns)<\/a> a terrorist organization \u2013 despite widespread doubts over its actual existence.<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2025\/nov\/24\/venezuela-maduro-us-drug-cartel-terrorism\" data-link-name=\"in body link\"><sub class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Read the full story<\/sub><\/a><\/p>\n<p>   New revelations about the tense relationship between Fox News and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/donaldtrump\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Donald Trump<\/a> in the fall of 2020 have emerged in a trove of thousands of court documents released Sunday as part of a massive defamation lawsuit filed against the network by voting technology company Smartmatic.<br \/>One exchange showed that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/media\/lachlan-murdoch\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Lachlan Murdoch<\/a>, the chief executive of Fox News parent company Fox Corp, told star anchor Sean Hannity in a 1 October 2020 text chain that Trump could not appear on Fox again if he attacked the network.<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/media\/2025\/nov\/24\/murdoch-sean-hannity-trump-fox-news-2020\" data-link-name=\"in body link\"><sub class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Read the full story<\/sub><\/a><br \/>Donald Trump on Sunday appeared to endorse the discredited conspiracy theory that Venezuela\u2019s leadership controls electronic voting software worldwide and caused his 2020 election defeat to Joe Biden.<br \/>White House officials have previously said that Trump\u2019s increasingly bellicose policy toward Venezuela is driven by concerns about migration and the drug trade. But the president\u2019s new comment, made on <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/posts\/115600167812342707\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Truth Social<\/a>, hints that his hostility to Venezuela may also be based on an outlandish, implausible theory ruled to be false by a judge in 2023.<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2025\/nov\/24\/trump-conspiracy-venezuela-2020-election\" data-link-name=\"in body link\"><sub class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Read the full story<\/sub><\/a><br \/>Donald Trump\u2019s weaponization of the US department of justice to focus on retribution against political foes, on fulfilling Maga goals and on granting pardons for allies has seen thousands of lawyers depart or be fired and weakened investigations in civil rights, national security and other areas, say ex-prosecutors and legal experts.<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2025\/nov\/24\/trump-doj-investigations\" data-link-name=\"in body link\"><sub class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Read the full story<\/sub><\/a><br \/><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2025\/nov\/24\/texas-church-ice-extortion-case\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">A church employee is under arrest in Houston, Texas<\/a><\/strong>, after being accused of posing as an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/ice-us-immigration-and-customs-enforcement\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">ICE<\/a> agent to extort money from a woman he had booked to give him a massage.<br \/><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2025\/nov\/24\/us-and-israel-backed-gaza-humanitarian-foundation-to-end-operations-in-territory\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">A controversial and secretive private company backed by the US and Israel<\/a><\/strong> that distributed food in Gaza has announced the end of its operations in the devastated territory.<br \/><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2025\/nov\/24\/trump-cancels-asylum-myanmar\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">The Trump administration announced it will cancel temporary asylum for about 10,000 Myanmar nationals living in the US<\/a><\/strong>, despite the country being ruled by a military dictatorship that has a record of executing dissidents.<br \/><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2025\/nov\/24\/north-dakota-supreme-court-revives-abortion-ban\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">The North Dakota supreme court revived the state\u2019s abortion ban on Friday<\/a><\/strong>, once again making it a felony for doctors to perform the procedure except in medical emergencies or in some cases of rape or incest.<br \/><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2025\/nov\/24\/trump-mamdani-white-house-maga\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">A flurry of social media posts from Maga influencers have laid bare the disorientation felt by members of Trump\u2019s base at the spectacle of Friday\u2019s cordial Oval Office meeting with Mamdani<\/a><\/strong>, who the president previously painted as a \u201ccommunist lunatic\u201d.<br \/><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2025\/nov\/24\/viola-ford-fletcher-tulsa-race-massacre-death\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Viola Ford Fletcher, one of the last survivors of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre in Oklahoma, has died at 111.<\/a><\/strong> She spent her later years seeking justice for the deadly attack by a white mob on the thriving Black community where she lived as a child.<br \/>Catching up?<em> Here\u2019s what happened on <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2025\/nov\/24\/trump-administration-news-updates-latest\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">23 November 2025<\/a><\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/rss\/articles\/CBMingFBVV95cUxNempsbVBNNzR4SFpmbG5uTXloRllEU1RFblZpTFNLaE1HMngwWjdXa01FaE1iN1RyUldUMnJsd3IyQkZxbDVYaXVsRHN1WTBzSUVLeHdTdGVsRHZPUkZoLVJmTjhjTjRQbXFVeF9WQWFmVi1vQUF3bW1xS2VhaldTNllJM2UzVDJuSlRHT3ZwdDRNTXZqZXBmVE1JLUdQQQ?oc=5\">source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Federal judge calls justice department\u2019s actions \u2018unlawful exercises of executive power\u2019 because prosecutor was unlawfully appointed \u2013 key US politics stories from Monday 24 November at a glanceA federal judge threw out the criminal cases against James Comey and Letitia James on Monday, concluding that the prosecutor handling the case was unlawfully appointed.Lindsey Halligan, who [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":173114,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-173113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}