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Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the firing of
James Hundley on social media shortly after he was unanimously
chosen by judges to replace former Trump lawyer Lindsey Halligan
as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
While the law says that the district court may choose U.S.
attorneys when an initial appointment expires, the Trump
administration has insisted that the power lies only in the
hands of the executive branch.
“EDVA judges do not pick our US Attorney. POTUS does. James
Hundley, you’re fired!” Blanche said in a post on X.
Hundley, who has handled criminal and civil cases for more than
30 years, didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment
Friday evening.
The firing of Hundley is the latest reflection of tumult in one
of the Justice Department’s most elite prosecution offices,
which since September has been mired in upheaval following the
resignation of a veteran prosecutor amid Trump administration
pressure to prosecute two of the president’s biggest political
foes, former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney
General Letitia James.
That prosecutor, Erik Siebert, was effectively forced out and
swiftly replaced by Halligan, a White House aide who secured
indictments against Comey and James but was later deemed by a
judge to have been unlawfully appointed. The cases were
dismissed, but the Justice Department has appealed that
decision.
Halligan resigned from the position last month after judges in
the district signaled continued skepticism over the legitimacy
of her appointment.
U.S. attorneys, the top federal prosecutors in regional Justice
Department offices around the country, typically require Senate
confirmation but the law does permit attorneys general to make
temporary appointments for limited time periods. In several
instances, though, the Justice Department has attempted to leave
its temporary appointees in place in ways that have invited
court challenges and drawn resistance from judges who have found
the appointments unlawful.
Last week, a lawyer appointed by judges to be the U.S. attorney
for northern New York was fired by the Justice Department after
spending less than a day in the job. Judges in the district
appointed Kinsella after declining to keep the Trump
administration’s pick, John Sarcone, in place after his 120-day
term elapsed.
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