On Monday, a federal judge dismissed criminal cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, ruling that the prosecutor who brought the charges at the behest of former President Donald Trump had been unlawfully appointed.

U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie’s decisions temporarily halt two high-profile prosecutions targeting some of Trump’s most prominent political opponents. The rulings also cast a critical light on the administration’s legal manoeuvres to place a politically loyal but inexperienced prosecutor in a position to pursue these cases.

The judgments do not examine the substance of the allegations against Comey or James. Instead, they focus on the unconventional process through which Lindsey Halligan was appointed as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Defense lawyers argued that the Trump administration exceeded its authority in executing the appointment. In two parallel rulings, Currie agreed, concluding that the invalid appointment required dismissal of both cases.