Conservative attorney George Conway on MSNBC on October 1, 2025

The recent two-count indictment of former FBI Director James Comey is already doomed thanks to one key mistake by President Donald Trump's Department of Justice (DOJ), according to conservative attorney George Conway.

While speaking to MSNBC host Chris Hayes on Wednesday, Conway pointed out that when Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed Lindsey Halligan to be interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia in late September, she overlooked a key requirement in the federal law that governs U.S. attorney vacancies. Section B of that law reads: "The Attorney General shall not appoint as United States attorney a person to whose appointment by the President to that office the Senate refused to give advice and consent," meaning anyone an attorney general appoints to a vacant U.S. attorney's office has to have already been confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

"She has no more authority than you or I — or my two corgis — to present an indictment to a grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia," Conway explained.

According to Conway, Erik Siebert, who was in the Eastern District of Virginia U.S. attorney's office before Halligan, was also not Senate-confirmed. However, he noted that the vacancies law allows for any interim U.S. attorney to be allowed to keep serving on an interim basis provided that the federal judges of that respective district's court sign off on their appointment after a 120-day period.

Because the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia extended Siebert's appointment in May, he was legally able to prosecute cases on behalf of the DOJ. But Conway reminded viewers that Siebert was forced out of his role after saying there was insufficient evidence to bring cases against Trump's rivals, like Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. And he pointed out that former interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba was forced out of her role in the District of New Jersey after a judge ruled her appointment conflicted with the vacancies law. Former interim U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III was also rejected by judges in the Northern District of New York after his 120-day window expired.

"The president didn't like him because he didn't want to file this stupid and meritless indictment against Comey, so he resigned," Conway said. "If what had happened to [Halligan] that day had happened to me, I would want to crawl under a rock and never be heard from again. But, you know, good for her."

"[Halligan] has basically no authority. She's not the U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia ... We saw her signature on that indictment — no one else signed that indictment — which means that it is invalid," he continued. "Because no other valid attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia's U.S. attorney's office signed the indictment, and because the statute of limitations has run, it's over."

"The statute of limitations expired at midnight last night. So Comey's home free," Conway added. "This case should be done. Sorry!"

Watch the segment below:

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