Ex-assistant AG says Trump DOJ 'going to re-indict' after Halligan flubs

Appearing on CNN Tuesday, former assistant Attorney General Tom Dupree weighed in on the recent dismissal of the indictments against James Comey and Letitia James, arguing that the administration is "going to re-indict" and will make one key change to keep Donald Trump's revenge prosecutions moving forward.

The president's campaign to exact legal retribution on his perceived political enemies hit a massive snag last week when judges dismissed indictments against Comey, the former FBI Director, and James, the New York State Attorney General. Each case was thrown out due to the determination that Trump's handpicked prosecutor, Lindsey Halligan, was unlawfully appointed as the interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

A Politico report from Tuesday morning found that the Department of Justice is currently weighing whether or not to appeal the rulings, as they pledged initially, or to bring entirely new indictments that amend the issues with the earlier ones.

During his CNN appearance, Dupree, who served as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ under former President George W. Bush, argued that the administration is guaranteed to try and "re-indict" Comey and James, but will need to get a different U.S. Attorney besides Halligan to sign them. Otherwise, he expected that the indictments will not be substantially different the next time around.

"I don't think the new indictments will be that different," Dupree said. "Frankly, I'm not aware that the Justice Department has amassed new evidence that they would include in the indictment. I think from the Justice Department's perspective, and certainly, as you note, from the perspective of the court, the sole flaw in the existing the original indictments was simply that Halligan was unlawfully appointed. So I think from the Justice Department's perspective... there's no indication they're planning on waving a white flag here. They're going to re-indict. I think the only thing they need to change, and they plan to change on those indictments, is the name of the prosecutor who signs it."

Dupree also agreed with numerous other legal experts that the DOJ's attempts to re-indict Comey would be much more difficult than for James, due to the statute of limitations passing "months ago."

"There sure is an issue here," Dupree continued. "And look, you'll recall that when the Justice Department filed that Comey indictment, they did so as the clock was ticking down to midnight, they literally had to file that indictment just days before the statute of limitations expired, which would mean it would be too late to charge Comey.

"Now they're going to have another problem, because when they file that new indictment, Comey's lawyers, the first thing they're going to argue is to say, 'too late, the statute of limitations ran several months ago.' This complaint is untimely. Now, look, the law is a little unclear on this, but I will say the Comey team does have one important thing in their favor, which is that the federal judge who declared Halligan's appointment unlawful has already said she thinks it's too late for them to re-indict Comey. She's not necessarily the final word on that question, but it is a pretty significant hurdle the Justice Department is going to have to surmount."

Some legal experts have pointed out that since Comey's indictment was dismissed "without prejudice," a particular U.S. law might have given the DOJ six extra months to bring another indictment against him.