Lindsey Halligan leaves DOJ submit after failed Comey, James instances : NPR

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Evan Vucci/AP Lindsey Halligan, a former senior White Home aide with no prior expertise as a prosecutor, is now out of the submit that President Trump appointed her to in japanese Virginia.

Her embattled standing as an interim federal prosecutor led to the dismissal of controversial Justice Division instances in opposition to former FBI Director James Comey and New York Legal professional Normal Letitia James.

Trump named Halligan to the Virginia submit on Sept. 21, 2025 — someday after Erik Siebert, the district's former performing U.S. legal professional, resigned below strain from Trump, together with repeated requires prison fees in opposition to James, Comey and others he perceived as enemies.

Federal judges repeatedly said that Halligan, who as soon as labored as a private legal professional for Trump, had no legitimate foundation to establish herself because the performing U.S. legal professional for the Japanese District of Virginia, ruling that her predecessor, Siebert, had already exhausted the 120-day interval for an performing federal prosecutor.

To legally occupy the job now, federal judges stated, Halligan or another potential prosecutor should be both Senate-confirmed or appointed by a district courtroom.

Halligan and Legal professional Normal Pam Bondi rejected the courts' interpretation in sturdy phrases, saying in a courtroom submitting final week that U.S. District Choose David J. Novak was "flat improper" and overstepping judicial powers.

Novak's response, issued Tuesday, was equally forceful, stating that any try by the administration to fill the prosecutor submit by appointment would violate U.S. regulation "and the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Structure."

"In brief, this charade of Ms. Halligan masquerading as the USA Legal professional for this District in direct defiance of binding courtroom orders should come to an finish," the decide wrote.

In a Tuesday submit on X, Bondi stated Halligan's 120-day appointment to the job had expired and blamed her departure from the prosecutor's workplace on Senate Democrats and "a number of pointless authorized obstacles." She stated Halligan, 36, "will proceed to serve her nation in different methods."

After Trump introduced her appointment, Halligan quickly secured prison indictments in opposition to each Comey and James — every of whom pleaded not responsible. The Justice Division charged Comey with making false statements and obstructing a congressional continuing, linked to testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee. James was charged with financial institution fraud and making a false assertion.

However Halligan's contested job standing threw the work of the prosecutor's workplace into turmoil, after U.S. District Choose Cameron McGowan Currie dominated that her appointment was illegal. Due to Halligan's "faulty appointment" and outstanding function in prosecuting Comey and James, Currie dominated, the indictments have been put aside.

The Japanese District of Virginia is headquartered in Alexandria. Because the U.S. Legal professional's web site notes, quite a few influential jurists have held the highest prosecutor's job there, together with John Marshall, who went on to change into chief justice of the Supreme Court docket.

As NPR reported in November, Halligan had beforehand drawn discover for her involvement within the Trump administration's overview of greater than half a dozen Smithsonian Establishment museums, with the aim of aligning their cultural messages with the president.