Giving Thanks For You Contrarians—and the Rule of Law

As we head into the Thanksgiving holiday, we celebrate two major victories for the rule of law—ones that you Contrarians helped support!

On Monday, two of Trump’s retaliatory prosecutions — against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James — collapsed. Judge Cameron McGowan Currie found that Lindsey Halligan — whom Donald Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi put in place to bring these baseless charges — was unlawfully appointed as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia and therefore all of her actions were invalid.

The initial interim U.S. attorney the Trump administration installed, Erik Siebert, refused to prosecute James and Comey. Trump then unceremoniously pushed Siebert out of office and stationed Halligan–a Trump loyalist and insurance lawyer who had never been before a grand jury in her life.

But under federal law, Donald Trump only gets to put in one interim U.S. attorney, without Senate confirmation within 120 days. The 120 days for that office ran out on May 21. So when Trump attempted to appoint Halligan on Sept. 22 it was contrary to the federal statute and to the Constitution, which provides for the advice and consent of the Senate on appointments of officers like U.S. attorneys. Jen and I broke it all down on a special Coffee with the Contrarians:

Now here’s where you Contrarians come in. We at Democracy Defenders Fund and our wonderful colleagues, including Lowell & Associates (who also represent James in her criminal case), won the key test case challenging Trump’s interim appointments of U.S. attorneys, starting in New Jersey. In that first case, we disqualified Alina Habba on a similar theory — securing a victory (which the Trump DOJ is appealing). That same theory was used by Judge Currie to knock out Halligan here — backed by the legal briefs Democracy Defenders Fund filed in these cases pressing our approach (and other issues).

Your paid subscription to The Contrarian helps fund our litigation at Democracy Defenders Fund — meaning that YOU played a big role in achieving this huge victory against Trump’s attempt to criminally prosecute his perceived enemies. It’s just one example of how my litigation colleagues and I are helping fight for democracy and winning in our over 200 legal cases and matters--with your support.

So what happens next in the Comey and James cases? The DOJ has already announced that it’s appealing, but the statute of limitations has run in the Comey case, and, frankly, both of these cases face so many other problems that they seem doomed to fail one way or another. Come what may, Monday was a very good day for the rule of law and for you Contrarians. It’s one more reason that we give thanks for each and every one of you on this holiday week and every week.

May you and yours have a happy Thanksgiving.

Warmly, Norm