From the opinion pages of the Wall Street Journal, this is Potomac Watch.

A federal judge dismisses the criminal charges against James Comey and Letitia James, saying

President Trump did not properly appoint the prosecutor who indicted them, who was acting without any legal authority.

Is this maybe a way out of the lawfare spiral, or will the Justice Department's vow to

appeal keep the country spinning down it? Welcome him, Kyle Peterson with the Wall Street Journal.

We're joined today by my colleagues on the editorial page, columnists Bill McGern and Barton Swain. President Trump's

lawfare revenge tour has gone bust at least for now. Federal prosecutors were initially

skeptical on the merits of both of these cases against former FBI director James Comey for

allegedly lying to Congress and against New York Attorney General

Letitia James for alleged mortgage fraud.

But after the U.S. attorney in Eastern Virginia resigned under pressure earlier this year and with the statute of limitations on the Comey allegations looming,

the Trump administration moved swiftly to name Lindsay Halligan as the

interim U.S. attorney. But on Monday, Judge Cameron McGowan Curry dismissed both of these cases

saying that Halligan's installation did not comply with the federal vacancy law. So these

indictments were never valid in the first place.

Here is James Comey responding in a statement on Instagram.

I'm grateful that the court ended the case against me,

which was a prosecution based on malevolence and incompetence,

and a reflection of what the Department of Justice has become under Donald Trump,

which is heartbreaking. But I was also inspired by the Department of Justice has become under Donald Trump, which is heartbreaking.

But I was also inspired by the example of the career people who refused to be part of this travesty.

It cost some of them their jobs, which is painful, but it preserved their integrity, which is beyond price.

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