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Two high-profile critics of President Trump achieved significant court wins on Monday when a US judge threw out the federal indictments against them.

For weeks following their charges, ex-FBI chief James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James have insisted fiercely that they are not guilty, claiming that the president and justice department are merely targeting them for revenge.

US District Judge Cameron Currie dismissed the charges against them due to attorney Lindsey Halligan's invalid appointment as US attorney. But she also left the door open for the government to try again.

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Comey acknowledged that possibility after the decision, saying he thinks the former president will probably target him again.

And White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson seemed to confirm it: This will not be the final word on this matter.

But the government confronts steep obstacles to successfully prosecute both after this setback, and legal analysts hesitate to forecast what could occur next due to the cases' unprecedented nature.

It feels to me like unexplored legal ground, stated Professor Kay Levine, Emory University School of Law professor.

Might the justice department challenge the ruling?

The Department of Justice can contest the judge's decision before a higher appeals court. In this case, that would be the Fourth Circuit Appeals Court.

US Attorney General Pam Bondi signaled she would take this route, vowing to use all legal means, including an expedited appeal.

In other cases, the former administration has aggressively appealed adverse decisions, taking cases from trial courts and sometimes fast-tracking its petitions up to the US Supreme Court.

Attorney Abbe Lowell, James's lawyer, vowed to continue to challenge any further politically motivated charges through all legal avenues.

If there is an appeal, the DOJ probably would have its own lawyers present the arguments, making Halligan's role in the appeal unclear.

Is it possible there be new charges?

The government charged James Comey with lying to lawmakers and obstruction of justice. Federal prosecutors charged Letitia James with financial fraud and providing false information to a financial institution.

Each entered not guilty pleas. In addition to claiming Halligan was unlawfully appointed, both also claimed to be targets of vindictive prosecution.

Since the initial charges were dismissed (though, of course, appeals could change that), the DOJ might try to assemble new grand juries and obtain new charges.

Based on my analysis, a new prosecutor could present James's case to a different grand jury and secure a fresh indictment, said Ms Levine.

But John Day, president of the American College of Trial Lawyers, said it could be a complicated path – especially in the Comey matter.

I can tell you it will be hotly contested, whether Mr Comey's case can be re-indicted if a lawfully appointed prosecutor is assigned and is able to secure an indictment.

He described the complex web of attorneys, judges, and legal filings involved as a procedural morass with no easy solutions.

It might be more difficult for the DOJ to try to file the exact same charges against Comey.

One problem is the legal time limit – the time frame that government lawyers had to charge Comey for these specific allegations – which expired at the end of September. However, the indictment's dismissal would trigger a six-month grace period for the DOJ to refile the case.

Even so in that case, his legal team said it intends to contend the prosecution is out of time.

The decision further indicates that since the charge is void, the time limit has run and there can be no new indictment, lawyer Patrick Fitzgerald said Monday.

What happens to prosecutor Lindsey Halligan?

In both decisions on the indictments against Comey and James, the judge was direct: Halligan's appointment was improper.

The judge stated in the James decision that the AG's effort to install Halligan as Acting US Attorney for the Virginia Eastern District was invalid.

Therefore, she lacked legal power to present the indictment, the judge wrote.

US attorneys are proposed by the president and require US Senate confirmation. Federal statutes regulate how individuals can be assigned on a temporary basis, but the judge determined that Halligan's assignment had violated these laws.

This makes Halligan's role on subsequent cases against James and Comey, once more, uncertain.

The decision might also cast a shadow on other cases Halligan has prosecuted in the Eastern District of Virginia where she serves.

But Attorney General Bondi said on that day that she designated Halligan a special US attorney and praised her work as outstanding.

The White House stood by its stance that Halligan was lawfully appointed, press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday.