Virginia US Attorney Halligan to Leave Post, Bondi Says (1)

The embattled interim US attorney in eastern Virginia, Lindsey Halligan, who brought charges against two of President Donald Trump’s biggest perceived political enemies, is leaving her post, according to US Attorney General Pam Bondi.

The departure of Halligan, a former personal lawyer for Trump, comes after the chief judge in the region issued an order that she may not continue beyond her 120-day term, which expires Tuesday.

Her exit marks the latest blow to Trump’s push to install loyalists in key prosecutorial positions. Alina Habba, another of Trump’s former personal lawyers, was disqualified last year from her post as US attorney in New Jersey, and a federal judge this month disqualified the US attorney in Albany, New York, who was investigating New York Attorney General Letitia James.

A judge had ruled in November that Halligan had been unlawfully appointed to serve as the top federal prosecutor in eastern Virginia. As part of the ruling, the judge dismissed indictments that Halligan had secured against former FBI Director James Comey and James. The department is appealing the ruling.

In a separate case, US District Judge David Novak ordered Halligan earlier this month to provide the basis for continuing to use the US attorney title and explain why her identification with that role doesn’t constitute a false or misleading statement that could be punished.

Earlier: DOJ Backs Virginia Prosecutor, Slams Judge Challenging Her Title

The Justice Department had argued Halligan wasn’t required to relinquish her title and that a single judge didn’t have the authority to prevent it from asserting its legal position in the litigation. The department in a court filing said the judge’s “threat” amounted to “a gross abuse of power and an affront to the separation of powers.”

Novak on Tuesday ordered Halligan to stop representing herself in court filings as the “United States Attorney,” saying that her “masquerading” with that title in defiance of court orders is a “charade.”

Bondi, in a post on X Tuesday night, called her departure “a significant loss for the Department of Justice and the communities she served.”

“While we will feel her absence keenly, we are confident that she will continue to serve her country in other ways,” Bondi said.

Before assuming her post in the Eastern District of Virginia, Halligan had no previous experience as a federal prosecutor or in handling Justice Department cases. Trump abruptly installed Halligan in September after her predecessor had resigned under pressure.

A spokesperson for the prosecutors’ office declined to comment.

Chief US District Judge Hannah Lauck said the court is using its statutory authority “to appoint an Interim United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia until the position is filled by a Senate confirmed person” and “is soliciting expressions of interest in serving in that position.”

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche responded to Lauck’s ruling in an X post. He shared a portion of a New York Times article saying it’s likely Trump would fire a court-appointed replacement for Halligan.

“It’s not likely, it’s guaranteed that the President gets to pick his U.S. attorneys,” Blanche wrote.

(Updates with context, starting in third paragraph.)

To contact the reporters on this story:
Chris Strohm in Washington at cstrohm1@bloomberg.net;
Jimmy Jenkins in Washington at jjenkins199@bloomberg.net;
Celine Castronuovo in Arlington at ccastronuovo@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Sara Forden at sforden@bloomberg.net

Peter Blumberg, John Harney

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