What’s next after the cases against Comey and James were dismissed?

In an unusual turn of events, Judge Cameron McGowan Currie said Lindsey Halligan, the interim U.S. attorney in eastern Virginia, was unlawfully appointed when she brought the cases shortly after Trump handpicked her for the post.

This is unlikely to be the end of the road for these cases, however. Here is a look at where things go from here.

What are the next steps for the Justice Department?

Attorney General Pam Bondi said the Justice Department will be “taking all available legal action, including an immediate appeal" of the court’s ruling. The case will go to a Richmond-based appeals court. If that court upholds the district court’s opinion, the Justice Department can appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Can the Justice Department just bring similar cases again?

Instead of appealing, the Justice Department could instead try to bring new charges against Comey and James. The judge dismissed the cases without prejudice, which means they can be refiled.

Because the judge said Halligan wasn’t properly appointed, it isn’t clear if another attorney under her leadership could try again, said John Day, president of the American College of Trial Lawyers. “The interesting issue is who’s going to present it to the grand jury," he said.

The Justice Department might have a hard time indicting Comey again because the five-year statute of limitations to charge him with making a false statement to Congress expired shortly after he was indicted in September.

With Monday’s ruling, Comey and James prevailed in perhaps the most narrow and technical way possible, leaving other challenges unresolved. The other challenges, including an argument that they were vindictively targeted by the Trump-era Justice Department, stood a higher chance of resulting in a dismissal with prejudice, according to legal experts.

“You do have the door open" to bringing the cases again, said Jacqueline Kelly, a former federal prosecutor in Manhattan. “How open that door is, particularly in the case of James Comey, remains to be seen. But it’s not as final as a dismissal with prejudice,"

Why did Lindsey Halligan’s appointment get thrown out?

Halligan, a former insurance lawyer who served for a time as Trump’s personal lawyer, succeeded Erik Siebert as the top federal prosecutor in eastern Virginia. Siebert was forced out of the role after he was pressured to indict Comey and James but found insufficient evidence to do so.

The judge, a Clinton appointee who usually sits in South Carolina, said Halligan’s appointment didn’t go through the customary confirmation process and only the district court had the authority to appoint a temporary U.S. attorney after Siebert resigned. Halligan was instead appointed by Bondi.

How common is it for a case to get thrown out in this way?

The Trump administration has been using an unusual workaround to keep its chosen prosecutors in place. The workaround, which involves the attorney general giving new titles to interim picks, has faced challenges across the country, including in Los Angeles, Nevada, New Jersey and New York.

In New Jersey, a federal judge ruled that the appointment of Alina Habba, who had served as a Trump personal lawyer, wasn’t lawful. A federal appeals court has since heard arguments in the case but hasn’t issued a ruling. Judges in Nevada and Los Angeles have issued similar decisions.

A judge is expected to hear arguments in December on the validity of the appointment of John Sarcone, the acting U.S. attorney in Northern New York. Sarcone is leading a separate civil-rights investigation into James, and her lawyers have argued his appointment was illegitimate.

What were the criminal charges against Comey and James?

Comey was charged with making false statements and obstruction related to testimony he gave during a 2020 hearing about the FBI’s investigation into Trump’s ties to Russia during his 2016 campaign for the presidency.

James was indicted in a separate case about two weeks later for alleged mortgage fraud. The Democrat and longtime Trump adversary had previously brought her own civil fraud case against Trump.

Both James and Comey had pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.

This explanatory article may be periodically updated.

Write to Lydia Wheeler at lydia.wheeler@wsj.com, Corinne Ramey at corinne.ramey@wsj.com and C. Ryan Barber at ryan.barber@wsj.com