The Justice Department accused federal judges Monday of a “campaign of bias” against Lindsey Halligan, the interim U.S. attorney and former Trump lawyer who secured since-vacated indictments against two of the president’s most prominent foes.
“Certain district court and magistrate judges in the Eastern District of Virginia are engaging in an unconscionable campaign of bias and hostility against U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan” and her assistants, said U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in a statement posted to the department’s official X account.
Trump appointed Halligan, a former insurance attorney and one of his personal lawyers, to serve as the interim acting U.S. attorney for the district in late September. Within days, she secured the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, followed by the indictment of New York Attorney General Letitia James.
But the absence of a Senate confirmation moved U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie to rule in dual opinions last month that Halligan’s appointment was illegal.
The ruling, which found Halligan’s tenure violated a federal statue that imposes a 120-day limit on interim U.S. attorneys, voided the indictments Halligan brought against Comey and James. (Comey had pleaded not guilty to lying to and obstructing Congress; James had pleaded not guilty to mortgage fraud.)
Only district courts, not the U.S. attorney general, have the authority to fill a vacancy after 120 days without a Senate confirmation, ruled Currie, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton.
The ruling stopped short of requiring Halligan be removed from her role.
Currie, who referred to Halligan as a “former White House aide with no prior prosecutorial experience,” determined that“all actions flowing from Ms. Halligan’s defective appointment” were “unlawful exercises of executive power.”
Federal judges in the district have since moved to strike Halligan’s name from court records and have refused to allow her to file criminal charging papers.
The Justice Department has nevertheless continued to list her in its filings. During a criminal case hearing last week, U.S. Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick said Halligan’s name appearing on charging papers “is simply not acceptable,” according to court transcripts first obtained by CNN. “Lindsey and our attorneys are simply doing their jobs: advocating for the Department of Justice’s positions while following guidance from the Office of Legal Counsel,” Bondi and Blanche wrote. “They do not deserve to have their reputations questioned in court for ethically advocating on behalf of their client. This Department of Justice has no tolerance for undemocratic judicial activism.” Halligan’s appointment in September came shortly after her predecessor, Erik Siebert, resigned amid pressure from the president to bring federal charges against Comey and James. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has said the administration intends to appeal Currie’s ruling, but it has yet to do so.
Sydney Carruth is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. Recommended
