Federal judge says Trump-appointed federal prosecutor in Virginia is ‘masquerading’ in the job
WASHINGTON– Two Virginia judges are rejecting the Trump administration’s arguments that a White House loyalist can continue serving as the state’s top federal prosecutor, with one seeking nominations Tuesday for his replacement and the other barring Lindsey Halligan from continuing to represent himself in his court as U.S. attorney.
The two orders from separate judges marked a dramatic new front in an ongoing clash between the Trump administration and the federal court over the legitimacy of Halligan’s nomination. A White House aide with no prior prosecutorial experience, Halligan was tapped for the job by President Donald Trump in September, but a judge ruled two months later that the appointment was illegal.
The Trump administration kept Halligan in place despite the ruling, but on Tuesday two judges made clear they believe it is time to end his tenure. Similar disputes have played out in other districts across the country, where judges have rejected other Trump administration efforts to appoint acting prosecutors outside of conventional protocol.
In an order, M. Hannah Lauck, chief judge for the Eastern District of Virginia and President Barack Obama’s nominee, ordered a clerk to post a vacancy announcement on the court’s website and in the media and said she was “soliciting expressions of interest in filling this position.” The judge noted that the 120-day appointment granted to Halligan, who has since been nominated by Trump but not confirmed by the Senate, expires Tuesday.
In a separate order, U.S. District Judge David Novak said he was removing the words “United States Attorney” from the signature of an indictment in a case before him, and barred him from continuing to represent himself with that title. He said he would initiate disciplinary proceedings against Halligan if she violated his order and persisted in identifying herself in court documents as a U.S. attorney, and said other signatories could also face disciplinary action.
“No matter all her machinations, Ms. Halligan has no legal basis to represent to this Court that she holds the position. And any such statement in the future can only be described as a false statement made in direct defiance of valid orders of the court,” Novak wrote. “In short, this charade of Ms. Halligan posing as the United States Attorney for this district, in direct defiance of binding court orders, must end.”
The order from Novak, who was appointed to the bench by Trump during the Republican president’s first term, followed a challenge filing from Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in which they upheld Halligan’s authority and accused the judge of abusing his power by demanding that Halligan publicly explain why she continues to identify as a U.S. attorney.
“Ms. Halligan’s response, joined by both the Attorney General and the Assistant Attorney General, contains a level of vitriol more appropriate for a cable news talk show and falls well short of the level of advocacy expected of litigants before this Court, particularly the Department of Justice,” Novak wrote.
“The Court will not engage in a similar exchange and will instead analyze the few points made by Ms. Halligan to justify her continued identification of her position as United States Attorney before the Court,” he added.
Halligan was appointed to the position on an acting basis in September after the Trump administration effectively forced veteran prosecutor Erik Siebert to step down, under pressure to bring charges against two of Trump’s political enemies, former FBI Director James Comey and New York’s attorney general.
Halligan obtained the indictment, but the victory was short-lived. In November, U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie ruled that Halligan had been illegally appointed as acting U.S. attorney.
