DOJ Hits Back at Judges Doubting Halligan’s US Attorney Role

The Justice Department is doubling down on its decision to have Lindsey Halligan continue serving as the Eastern District of Virginia’s top federal prosecutor after a court last month declared she was unlawfully appointed.

Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on Monday responded to media reports of judges criticizing the US attorney’s office for continuing to list Halligan on court filings in various cases, accusing the judges of “engaging in an unconscionable campaign of bias and hostility” against Halligan and other prosecutors in the office.

“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 said in a statement DOJ posted on X.

Days after the ruling from US District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie saying Halligan was unlawfully installed as interim US attorney, the Office of Legal Counsel advised that Halligan continue to be listed in court filings as the Eastern District of Virginia’s US attorney.

Judges in recent court hearings have questioned the validity of continuing to list Halligan on court filings, with one Eastern District of Virginia magistrate judge calling it “simply not acceptable,” according to a transcript obtained by CNN.

Bondi and Blanche accused the judges of engaging in “undemocratic judicial activism.”

“We will continue fighting for public safety in courtrooms across the country, and we will not be deterred by rogue judges who fail to live up to their obligations of impartiality because of their own political views,” the DOJ leaders said.

Halligan, a former personal lawyer for President Donald Trump, is one of six US attorneys whose appointments have been challenged in court as the administration has installed attorneys perceived as loyal in several top prosecutor roles. Federal judges have so far ruled that Halligan and three others were unlawfully put in their roles in interim or acting capacities, though the administration has taken steps to keep their US attorneys picks in place.

Currie, a Bill Clinton appointee, ruled last month that Halligan was ineligible to serve as interim US attorney because DOJ already appointed her predecessor, Erik Siebert, to serve a 120-day interim term upon the vacancy of the US attorney post at the start of Trump’s second term. The ruling, however, stopped short of requiring that Halligan be removed from her role.

Currie’s ruling also dismissed controversial indictments Halligan had obtained against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James (D). Halligan was the sole prosecutor from her office to sign off on both indictments.

The White House said shortly after Currie’s ruling that it planned to appeal the decision, but has yet to file a notice of doing so.