{"id":8332,"date":"2026-01-14T10:32:24","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T15:32:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?p=8332"},"modified":"2026-01-14T10:32:26","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T15:32:26","slug":"absolute-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2026\/01\/14\/absolute-power\/","title":{"rendered":"Absolute Power"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Into the Weeds<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A Federal Judge in South Carolina, Cameron McGowan Currie, recently threw out indictments of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.\u00a0\u00a0The decision did not deal with the substance of the charges.\u00a0\u00a0Judge Currie ruled that, as a matter of law, the US Attorney for Eastern Virginia was not legally appointed to her office.\u00a0\u00a0And since the Trump-appointed Lindsey Halligan was the only signature for the United States Department of Justice on the indictments, the indictments themselves were invalid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talk about going down \u201cinto the weeds\u201d of legality.\u00a0\u00a0But Judge Currie wasn\u2019t just dealing with the political \u201chot potato\u201d of retribution and revenge.\u00a0\u00a0She had a much broader point, the consistent actions of the Trump Administration to subvert the Constitution of the United States.\u00a0\u00a0Halligan\u2019s appointment was only the tip of the iceberg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Presidential Appointments<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It all goes back to the basic \u201cchecks and balances\u201d of the branches of government set up in the\u00a0\u00a0US Constitution.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The President has the right to appoint the officers of the Executive branch.\u00a0\u00a0Most of those appointments, including US Attorneys, are required to be approved by two-thirds vote of the US Senate.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0And the authors of the Constitution did not see the Congress as a \u201cfull-time\u201d body. They allowed the President to make \u201ctemporary\u201d appointments during recesses of the Senate (US Constitution, Article 2,\u00a0\u00a72<\/a>).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the normal method of appointing US Attorneys (there are 93, one for each Federal District), is that first the President nominates a candidate. Then the Senate holds hearings and determines whether to confirm by two-thirds or not.\u00a0\u00a0The Senate, by tradition, gives wide latitude to the President to appoint \u201chis choices\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Traditionally, over 90% are confirmed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also by tradition, US Attorneys resign from their office at the end of the Presidential term.\u00a0\u00a0So in this particular case, the Eastern District of Virginia, the Biden-appointed Jessica Aber resigned after Trump was inaugurated.\u00a0\u00a0Her assistant, Eric Siebert, was temporarily appointed (US Code \u00a7546) to serve in the role for up to 120 days under Federal law. He was well on the way to Senate confirmation.\u00a0\u00a0All of the parties involved:\u00a0\u00a0the President, Virginia\u2019s Republican Governor, and even the two Democratic Senators from the state, favored confirming Siebert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Revenge or Evidence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

But Siebert made a \u201cfatal\u201d mistake.\u00a0\u00a0He refused to indict two of Trump\u2019s \u201cenemies\u201d, Comey and James.\u00a0\u00a0He simply could not find the evidence to back an indictment.\u00a0\u00a0By law, there needs to be enough evidence to create \u201cprobable cause\u201d that a crime was committed. That’s more than a 50% certainty, that it happened.\u00a0\u00a0In addition, by Department of Justice regulation, the prosecutor must be reasonably sure they can reach the \u201cbeyond reasonable doubt\u201d standard , 90% certainty for conviction in court.\u00a0\u00a0Siebert didn\u2019t think he had either standard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Trump Justice department fired Siebert.\u00a0\u00a0They then appointed another \u201ctemporary\u201d, Lindsey Halligan, a real estate lawyer that previously did work for Trump.\u00a0\u00a0The legal issue is on this second appointment.\u00a0\u00a0According to 28 US Code \u00a7546 <\/a>after 120 days, \u201cIf an appointment expires under subsection (c)(2), the district court for such district may appoint a United States attorney to serve until the vacancy is filled.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>In simple English, after 120 days, the local District Court (judges) gets to fill the vacancy, until the Senate confirms a candidate.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judge Currie is not a local district court judge.\u00a0\u00a0Because of the conflict of powers, the Comey\/James indictments case was heard by an \u201cout-of-district\u201d Federal judge in South Carolina.\u00a0\u00a0Halligan\u2019s signature was the only one (and only attorney willing to sign) on the indictment.\u00a0\u00a0Judge Currie ruled that the indictments themselves were invalid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s Appointee<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In multiple other Federal Courts, judges are citing Judge Currie\u2019s decision in challenges to Trump temporary appointees.\u00a0\u00a0Currently five different so-called US Attorneys are under scrutiny.\u00a0\u00a0And the Trump Administration is fighting back, calling Currie a \u201cDemocrat-Activist\u201d Judge (she was appointed by Bill Clinton).\u00a0\u00a0The Justice Department is also lashing out at other Judges respecting Currie\u2019s decision.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0Federal Judge David Novak, a Trump appointee, demanded that Halligan explain to the Court why she is still acting as the US Attorney. The entire weight of Justice\u2019s leadership struck back.\u00a0\u00a0Attorney General Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Blanche and Halligan all signed onto to a response. It said that, \u201cThe bottom line is that Ms. Halligan has not \u2018misrepresented\u2019 anything and the Court is flat wrong\u2026<\/em>\u201d (News Nation<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the reality is simple.\u00a0\u00a0If Trump can temporarily appoint, over and over again without check, then the Senate is denied the power to confirm appointees.\u00a0\u00a0The Courts can step into this early with their ability to appoint US Attorneys. But the larger point is all about the Trump Presidency trying to grab unlimited powers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, the Supreme Court will have a say in this decision.\u00a0\u00a0And no one should feel secure that they will even take a stand, or what their decision might be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Into the Weeds A Federal Judge in South Carolina, Cameron McGowan Currie, recently threw out indictments of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.\u00a0\u00a0The decision did not deal with the substance of the charges.\u00a0\u00a0Judge Currie ruled that, as a matter of law, the US Attorney for Eastern Virginia was not … Continue reading “Absolute Power”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nAbsolute Power : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2026\/01\/14\/absolute-power\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Absolute Power : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Into the Weeds A Federal Judge in South Carolina, Cameron McGowan Currie, recently threw out indictments of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.\u00a0\u00a0The decision did not deal with the substance of the charges.\u00a0\u00a0Judge Currie ruled that, as a matter of law, the US Attorney for Eastern Virginia was not … Continue reading "Absolute Power"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2026\/01\/14\/absolute-power\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Our America - 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