By Sarah N. Lynch and Andrew Goudsward

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (Reuters) -Former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James will ask a federal judge on Thursday to drop the criminal charges against them, arguing that President Donald Trump’s hand-picked U.S. attorney, who obtained the indictments against them, was unlawfully appointed.

The hearing at the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, will mark the first time a judge will consider one of several efforts James and Comey have made to dismiss the indictments before trials.

The arguments center on whether Lindsey Halligan, Trump’s former personal attorney, was illegally installed as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. If Halligan is deemed to be unlawfully appointed, then the charg

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