Lindsey Halligan finally steps down as US attorney after judge rips Trump lawyer for ‘cable news talk show’ defense of her title
Lindsey Halligan, who unsuccessfully brought politically charged indictments against Donald Trump’s adversaries, has stepped down from her role as a top federal prosecutor in Virginia.
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced her exit hours after a federal judge ripped into Halligan’s vitriolic defense of her continued use of the “U.S. Attorney” title, despite a court ruling that found she was unlawfully serving in the role.
Her defense “contains a level of vitriol more appropriate for a cable news talk show and falls far beneath the level of advocacy expected from litigants in this Court, particularly the Department of Justice,” according to Tuesday’s order from Virginia District Judge David Novak.
The judge ruled that her claim to the title of U.S Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia “ignores a binding court order” and could result in disciplinary action.
She has “no legal basis” to continue the “charade,” the judge wrote.
In a statement Tuesday night, Halligan said her 120-day appointment in the interim role “concluded” January 20.
Earlier, Judge Novak said that any further use of the title of U.S. attorney could be seen as “a false statement made in direct defiance of valid court orders.”
“This charade of Ms. Halligan masquerading as the United States Attorney for this District in direct defiance of binding court orders must come to an end,” he added.
Novak had previously asked the Justice Department to explain why she is still representing herself as the top federal prosecutor in the district despite November’s order from District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie.
A hostile response accused the judge of making “rudimentary” legal errors and flouting “elementary” legal principles in a “gross abuse of power” for daring to suggest that Halligan could be misleading the courts.
The document was signed by Halligan and submitted by Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, among others.
Trump nominated his one-time personal lawyer as interim U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia after the president boasted of “firing” her predecessor, who had resisted pressure from the administration to prosecute former FBI director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
But Halligan brought indictments against them days after taking office. A federal judge dismissed both cases and determined that Halligan was serving unlawfully in the role.
Because Halligan remained in office past the 120-period for interim U.S. attorney, “all actions flowing from Ms. Halligan’s defective appointment,” including the cases against Comey and James, “were unlawful exercises of executive power and are hereby set aside,” according to Currie’s order.
