The Latest: Judge dismisses cases against James Comey and Letitia James

A federal judge on Monday dismissed the criminal cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, concluding that the prosecutor who brought the charges at President Donald Trump ’s urging was illegally appointed by the Justice Department.

The rulings from U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie amount to a stunning rebuke of the Trump administration’s efforts to target Trump’s political opponents as well as its legal maneuvering to hastily install a loyalist prosecutor willing to file the cases.

The orders make Lindsey Halligan the latest Trump administration prosecutor to be disqualified because of the manner in which they were appointed.

The objection to Halligan’s appointment was just one part of a multipronged assault on the indictments, which included arguments that the cases were vindictive.

Here's the latest:

A group of mostly Democratic senators is urging Attorney General Pam Bondi and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to declassify and release the legal opinion underpinning the Trump administration’s airstrikes in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific.

The U.S. military has carried out lethal strikes on alleged drug smugglers, which Trump has defended as a necessary escalation to curb the flow of drugs into the United States.

“Few decisions are more consequential for a democracy than the use of lethal force. We therefore believe that the declassification and public release of this important document would enhance transparency,” the senators wrote.

Among the lawmakers who signed the letter were Sens. Elissa Slotkin and Mark Kelly, as well as Independent Sen. Angus King. Trump recently accused Slotkin and Kelly of sedition “punishable by DEATH” after they appeared in a video with other lawmakers urging troops to defy “illegal orders.”

The Justice Department renewed its request Monday to unseal Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking grand jury materials, saying Congress made clear in approving the release of related investigative materials that documents such as the court records should be released.

U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton signed the submission in Manhattan federal court, requesting an expedited ruling that would allow the materials to be released now that Trump signed the action requiring the release of documents related to Epstein within 30 days.

The Justice Department said the congressional action overrode existing law in a way that permits the unsealing of the grand jury records.

Despite a 2021 military takeover and a controversial election, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem cited an “improved” situation in Myanmar, the country formerly known as Burma, as a reason to terminate temporary legal protection for its people.

“Burma has made notable progress in governance and stability, including the end of its state of emergency, plans for free and fair elections, successful ceasefire agreements, and improved local governance contributing to enhanced public service delivery and national reconciliation,” Noem said in a statement.

The temporary protections are set to expire on January 26, 2026.

The move comes three days after Trump announced the immediate, targeted termination of temporary protection status for Somalis living in Minnesota.

“When I was 22 years old, I commissioned as an Ensign in the United States Navy and swore an oath to the Constitution,” Kelly said in a Monday statement. “I upheld that oath through flight school, multiple deployments on the USS Midway, 39 combat missions in Operation Desert Storm, test pilot school, four space shuttle flights at NASA, and every day since I retired — which I did after my wife Gabby was shot in the head while serving her constituents.”

He added that Hegseth’s social media post “is the first I heard” of the Pentagon’s investigation.

“I also saw the President’s posts saying I should be arrested, hanged, and put to death,” Kelly said.

“If this is meant to intimidate me and other members of Congress from doing our jobs and holding this administration accountable, it won’t work,” Kelly added. “I’ve given too much to this country to be silenced by bullies who care more about their own power than protecting the Constitution.”

In a statement, James said, “I am heartened by today’s victory and grateful for the prayers and support I have received from around the country.”

“I remain fearless in the face of these baseless charges as I continue fighting for New Yorkers every single day,” the New York attorney general, a Democrat, said.

Prosecutor Lindsey Halligan was named to the job in September after a different interim U.S. attorney, Erik Siebert, was effectively forced out amid pressure from the Trump administration to file charges against Comey and James.

After Siebert resigned, Comey’s lawyers argued, the judges of the federal court district should have had exclusive say over who got to fill the vacancy. Instead, Trump nominated Halligan while publicly imploring Bondi in a social media post to take action against his political opponents, saying in a Truth Social post that “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”

Comey was indicted days later on charges of making a false statement and obstructing Congress, and James was charged soon after that in a mortgage fraud investigation.

Both defendants had asked for the cases to be dismissed with prejudice, meaning that the Justice Department would not be able to bring them again.

But the judge instead dismissed them without prejudice, though it was not immediately clear if or how the Justice Department might attempt to revive the prosecutions.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Monday that Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly has been singled out for investigation into possible breaches of military law because he is subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, unlike other lawmakers who called on U.S. military members to defy “illegal orders.”

Kelly joined a handful of other lawmakers — Sen. Elissa Slotkin, and Reps. Jason Crow, Chris Deluzio, Maggie Goodlander and Chrissy Houlahan — for a 90-second video message to American troops.

Hegseth said in a post on the social platform X that five of the six lawmakers do not fall under Defense Department jurisdiction, stating that “one is CIA and four are former military but not ‘retired,’ so they are no longer subject to UCMJ.”

“However, Mark Kelly (retired Navy Commander) is still subject to UCMJ — and he knows that,” Hegseth stated.

Trump said he has accepted an invitation from Chinese leader Xi Jinping to visit Beijing and that he reciprocated by inviting Xi for a state visit to the U.S. later next year.

Trump made the announcement a few hours after speaking with Xi on the phone on Monday morning. He said the two men discussed issues including Ukraine, fentanyl, and soybeans. The phone call came nearly one month after the two met in person in the South Korean city of Busan.

“Our relationship with China is extremely strong!” Trump said.

Beijing, which announced the phone call first, said nothing about the state visits but said the two leaders discussed trade, Taiwan and Ukraine.

A federal judge has dismissed the criminal cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, concluding that the prosecutor who brought the charges at Trump’s urging was illegally appointed by the Justice Department.

The rulings from U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie amount to a stunning rebuke of the administration’s efforts to target Trump’s political opponents, as well as its legal maneuvering to hastily install a loyalist prosecutor willing to file the cases.

The orders make Lindsey Halligan the latest Trump administration prosecutor to be disqualified because of the manner in which they were appointed.

The Pentagon says it is investigating the Democratic senator from Arizona for possible breaches of military law after Kelly joined a handful of other lawmakers in a video that called for U.S. troops to refuse unlawful orders.

The Pentagon’s statement, which was posted on social media on Monday, cited a federal law that allows retired service members to be recalled to active duty on orders of the defense secretary for possible court-martial or other measures. Kelly served in the U.S. Navy as a fighter pilot before becoming an astronaut. He retired at the rank of captain.

It is extraordinary for the Pentagon, which until the second Trump term has usually gone out of its way to act and appear apolitical, to directly threaten a sitting member of Congress with investigation.

In its statement, the Pentagon suggested that Kelly’s statements in the video interfered with the “loyalty, morale, or good order and discipline of the armed forces” by citing the federal law that prohibits such actions.

“A thorough review of these allegations has been initiated to determine further actions, which may include recall to active duty for court-martial proceedings or administrative measures,” the statement said.

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani didn’t back down in an interview that aired Sunday from past criticism that President Donald Trump acted like a despot and a fascist after a surprisingly friendly White House meeting between the two men.

The newly elected democratic socialist and the Republican president have fiercely criticized each other in the past. Trump called Mamdani a “100% Communist Lunatic” in a social media post following the incoming mayor’s election victory, and Mamdani has said Trump was attacking democracy. Yet the two political foils emerged smiling after the meeting on Friday and spoke of shared goals.

Pressed about his past criticism during a “Meet the Press” interview conducted Saturday, Mamdani said his views remained unchanged.

▶ Read more about what Mamdani had to say

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Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed trade, Taiwan and Ukraine, according to the White House and Chinese officials.

Xi told Trump that Taiwan’s return to mainland China is “an important part of the post-war international order,” according to China’s official news agency Xinhua.

A White House official confirmed the call happened on Monday morning but offered no details.

The conversation came after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi recently said Japan’s military could get involved if China were to take action against Taiwan, the self-governing island Beijing says must come under its rule.

Xi, in the phone call, said China and the U.S., which fought together during the war, should “jointly safeguard the victorious outcome of World War II.”

The two leaders also discussed trade, but the Chinese statement did not reveal any concrete agreements on matters such as purchases of American soybeans.

The nation’s top military officer will visit American troops Monday in Puerto Rico and on a Navy warship in the region, where the U.S. has amassed an unusually large fleet of warships and has been attacking alleged drug-smuggling boats.

Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is Trump’s primary military adviser. The Pentagon said Caine will “engage with service members and thank them for their outstanding support to regional missions.” Caine’s visit comes as Trump evaluates whether to take military action against Venezuela.

The U.S. military’s buildup and 21 boat strikes off the South American coast have killed more than 80 people. They’re seen by many as a pressure tactic on Maduro to resign.

International airlines increasingly canceled flights to Venezuela on Sunday after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration warned pilots to use caution when flying in the country’s airspace because of worsening security and heightened military activity.

Marisela de Loaiza, president of the Airlines Association in Venezuela, told The Associated Press that six carriers have indefinitely suspended flights: TAP, LATAM, Avianca, Iberia, Gol and Caribbean. Turkish Airlines suspended flights from Nov. 24 to 28.

On Friday, the FAA warned pilots that unspecified threats “could pose a potential risk to aircraft at all altitudes,” as well as planes taking off and landing in the country and even aircraft on the ground.

The warning came as President Donald Trump’s administration has ramped up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

▶ Read more about military activity in Venezuela

The Associated Press and the Trump administration were due back before a federal appeals court Monday in their fight over media access, with the AP arguing that a news outlet should not be punished for its point of view and the White House insisting the president should determine who can question him in the Oval Office.

AP sued three Trump administration officials, including White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, in February after its reporters were barred from the “pool” of journalists who follow the president up close. The administration’s action, it said, was in response to an institutional decision by AP to continue using the term “Gulf of Mexico” as its default style after Trump renamed it the “Gulf of America.”

The case has wound its way through federal district court and, more recently, federal appellate court throughout the year.

Julie Pace, AP’s executive editor, wrote in an op-ed piece Monday morning that the question of access is not just about AP; it’s about people’s access to the government that works for them.

▶ Read more about the court case

The race for California governor features former presidential wannabes, a county sheriff, two women who could become the first female to hold the office, House members current and former, an ex-Cabinet secretary and at least one billionaire with another in the wings. The contest has been singed by scandal and witnessed one campaign nearly melt down.

And it hasn’t officially started yet.

The pending exit of term-limited Gov. Gavin Newsom has created the most wide-open and crowded field for the state’s highest office in memory. The job pays $242,000 a year but provides an arguably more valuable national political platform and the ability to engage in trade, climate and other global affairs. By default, the California governor, in a state of nearly 40 million people, is a national figure.

Newsom is widely expected to launch a White House run after the Democrat’s term ends in early January 2027.

▶ Read about the candidates the race has attracted so far

Since it was created in 2018, the federal government’s cybersecurity agency has helped warn state and local election officials about potential threats from foreign governments, shown officials how to protect polling places from attacks and gamed out how to respond to the unexpected, such as an Election Day bomb threat or sudden disinformation campaign.

The agency was largely absent from that space for elections this month in several states, a potential preview for the 2026 midterms. Shifting priorities of the Trump administration, staffing reductions and budget cuts have many election officials concerned about how engaged the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency will be next year, when control of Congress will be at stake in those elections.

▶ Read more about how states are approaching the anticipated gaps

A task force ordered by President Donald Trump to combat crime in Memphis, Tennessee, has made thousands of arrests, compounding strains on the busy local court system and an already overcrowded jail in ways that concerned officials say will last months or even years as cases play out.

Since late September, hundreds of federal, state and local law enforcement personnel tied to the Memphis Safe Task Force have made traffic stops, served warrants and searched for fugitives in the city of about 610,000 people. More than 2,800 people have been arrested and more than 28,000 traffic citations have been issued, data provided by the task force and Memphis police shows.

The task force, which includes National Guard troops, is supported by Republican Gov. Bill Lee and others who hope the surge reduces crime in a city that has grappled with violent crime, including nearly 300 homicides last year and almost 400 in 2023.

▶ Read more about what’s happening in Memphis