We have now entered the season in which a question commonly asked is, ‘What are you thankful for?’ It would not surprise that, if asked, President Trump would answer that he’s ‘thankful that November is over.’ It was one tough month for Trump, and no single day was tougher or harder to swallow than November 24th.
That is the day that a federal judge dismissed charges against two of Trump’s bitterest enemies, former Director of the FBI James Comey and New York Attorney General Leticia James. The case, the judge said, was based on the faulty appointment of the U.S. attorney charged with prosecuting it.
Colorado native and one time Trump personal lawyer, Lindsey Halligan, was appointed to take over the case after her predecessor, U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert, refused to prosecute, not confident about the strength of the charges against Comey and James. His decision resulted in his firing.
In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie concluded that the appointment of Interim U.S. Attorney Halligan was unconstitutional. Ironically, the ruling was similar to that of Florida federal Judge Aileen Cannon who ruled last year that special counsel Jack Smith’s appointment was similarly unconstitutional. “Ms. Halligan had no lawful authority to present the indictment,” she said.
Prior to Judge Currie’s decision to toss the case, Halligan, who had been an insurance attorney and had never prosecuted a case, made a number of unforced errors when presenting the case before a grand jury. More than a few veteran attorneys said her mistakes, including making fundamental and prejudicial misstatements of law to the grand jury, were so egregious that she could face disbarment.
Cannon ruled that Smith, who had been appointed by then Attorney General Merrick Garland, could not prosecute the case against Trump because he was not appointed by the president or confirmed by Congress.
The case against Comey and James was dismissed without prejudice, meaning at some future date it may be retried. Attorney General Pam Bondi said she plans to appeal.
In late September Comey was indicted on charges of making a false statement to Congress and obstruction of an investigative proceeding in connection to the FBI’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. If convicted Comey faced up to five years in prison.
“This case mattered to me personally,” Comey said following the judge’s ruling. “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. I don’t care what your politics are.”
“I am heartened by today’s victory,” James said outside the courtroom. “I remain fearless in the face of these baseless charges,” she added, pledging to remain focused on working on behalf of all New Yorkers.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser applauded the decision to dismiss the case, calling it “an important defense of the rule of law.” Weiser was critical of the method Trump used in taking the matter to court. “Picking and illegally appointing a prosecutor to charge specific persons,” he said, “cannot be allowed.”
An overarching shadow in Smith’s case was President Trump’s. He seemed determined to strike back at both Comey and James. James New York office took him to court and won verdicts against him for civil fraud. But late last summer that verdict was reversed by a New York appeals court along with the $450 million dollar judgment.
Comey’s indictment seemed to be at the behest of Trump. Just five days before Comey’s indictment was filed, in a late night posting on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote, “We can’t delay any longer…JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!” The post also included a third member of Trump’s ‘most wanted,’ California Senator Adam Schiff. Trump punctuated his post with “There is a GREAT CASE.”
All three cases seem to be in keeping with Trump’s campaign promise of “retribution.” Cases against New York Attorney General Leticia James and Senator Schiff are mortgage fraud and both, experts say, seem weak. Schiff, a regular target of Trump’s, served as a lead impeachment manager in Trump’s first impeachment.
The one thing Trump might be thankful for about November is that has only thirty and not thirty-one days. Because from beginning to end, November, as has been often written, was ‘the cruelest month’ for the twice impeached president.
It began with hand-picked candidates taking a beating in elections in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia. In New Jersey and Virginia, House members Mikey Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger won double-digit elections for governor. In both elections, voters cited “affordability” and Trump’s handling of the economy.
Polls indicated by a 2-to-1 margin that the six-week government shutdown, which ended November 12th, fell on Trump. In fact, one poll, the AP-NORC poll, showed only “33 percent of U.S. adults approve” of Trump’s handling of the government, a ten-point drop from March.
Trump took another blow when on November 18th a three-judge federal panel ruled against Texas redistricting because it targets minority districts and voters. The Texas legislature had earlier approved redistricting that would have added as many as five new seats giving Republicans a larger majority in the House.
New polling numbers in November also arrived with accompanying gloom. They showed Trump with only a 41 percent approval and a 58 percent disapproval with nearly half disapproving overwhelmingly.
But these November markers may not have been as dark as the issue Trump seems unable to kick. On November 12th, Arizona Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva was sworn into office. Almost immediately she signed the discharge petition held up because of the government shutdown. With Grijalva’s vote, it now allows for release of the Epstein files.
The convicted sexual offender who trafficked hundreds of young girls and women to his Florida home and other properties has been repeatedly linked to Trump. The files, Democrats believe, may contain damning information on Trump. Epstein took his own life in August 2019.
