Trump-appointed prosecutor who pursued indictments against the
president's foes is leaving post
[January 21, 2026]
By ERIC TUCKER
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lindsey Halligan, who, as a hastily appointed Justice
Department prosecutor, pursued indictments against a pair of President
Donald Trump's adversaries, is leaving her position as her months-long
tenure has now concluded, Attorney General Pam Bondi said Tuesday night.
Halligan's departure from the role of interim United States attorney for
the Eastern District of Virginia came as multiple judges were casting
doubt on her ability to remain in the job legally following a court
ruling two months ago that declared her appointment illegal. She was
appointed in September to a 120-day stint, which concluded Tuesday.
“The circumstances that led to this outcome are deeply misguided,” Bondi
said in a social media post on X announcing Halligan’s exit. “We are
living in a time when a democratically elected President’s ability to
staff key law enforcement positions faces serious obstacles. The
Department of Justice will continue to seek review of decisions like
this that hinder our ability to keep the American people safe.”
The move brings an end to a brief but tumultuous tenure. Trump tapped
Halligan, a White House aide who had served as his personal lawyer but
had no prior experience as a federal prosecutor, to lead one of the
Justice Department's most important and prestigious offices. She quickly
succeeded in securing indictments at Trump's urging against former FBI
Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. But a
judge later concluded that her appointment was unlawful and that the two
indictments must therefore be dismissed.
The Trump administration had kept Halligan in place despite that ruling,
but on Tuesday, two judges made clear that they believed it was time for
her tenure to end. Hours later, Halligan became the latest Trump ally to
give up her title amid scrutiny from judges about the administration's
maneuvering to install the president's loyalists in key posts. Last
month, for instance, another of Trump's former personal attorneys, Alina
Habba, resigned after an appeals court said she, too, had been serving
in her position unlawfully.
It was not immediately clear who would now lead the U.S. attorney's
office in the Eastern District of Virginia, which has been buffeted by
resignations and leadership turnover since last September when the Trump
administration effectively forced out the veteran prosecutor who had
been leading the office, Erik Siebert, and replaced him with Halligan.
Halligan's departure followed orders Tuesday from separate judges that
marked a dramatic new front in an ongoing clash between the Trump
administration and the federal court over the legitimacy of her
appointment.
In one order, M. Hannah Lauck, the chief judge of the Eastern District
of Virginia and a nominee of President Barack Obama, directed a clerk to
publish a vacancy announcement on the court's website and said she was
“soliciting expressions of interest in serving in that position.”
In a separate order, U.S. District Judge David Novak said he was
striking the words “United States Attorney” from the signature block of
an indictment in a case that was before him as well as barring Halligan
from continuing to present herself with that title. He said he would
initiate disciplinary proceedings against Halligan if she violated his
order and persisted in identifying herself in court filings as a U.S.
attorney, and said other signatories could be subject to discipline as
well.
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Lindsey Halligan, outside of the White House, Aug. 20, 2025, in
Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
“No matter all of her machinations, Ms. Halligan has no legal basis
to represent to this Court that she holds the position. And any such
representation going forward can only be described as a false
statement made in direct defiance of valid court orders,” Novak
wrote. “In short, this charade of Ms. Halligan masquerading as the
United States Attorney for this District in direct defiance of
binding court orders must come to an end.”
Novak, who was appointed to the bench by Trump during the Republican
president's first term in office, chided Justice Department
leadership for what he suggested was an improperly antagonistic
defense of Halligan by Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd
Blanche in an earlier court filing.
“Ms. Halligan’s response, in which she was joined by both the
Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General, contains a level
of vitriol more appropriate for a cable news talk show and falls far
beneath the level of advocacy expected from litigants in this Court,
particularly the Department of Justice,” Novak wrote.
“The Court will not engage in a similar tit-for-tat and will instead
analyze the few points that Ms. Halligan offers to justify her
continued identification of her position as United States Attorney
before the Court,” he added.
Halligan was thrust into the position amid pressure by Trump to
charge Comey and James, two of his longtime perceived adversaries.
Trump made his desire for indictments clear in a Truth Social post
in which he implored Bondi to act swiftly.
Halligan secured the indictments, but the win was short-lived. In
November, U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie ruled that
Halligan had been illegally appointed and dismissed both cases. The
Justice Department has appealed that ruling.
In her own statement, Halligan acknowledged that her 120-day tenure
had come to an end on Tuesday. She also lamented the legal limbo she
said she had been left in by Currie's opinion, noting that judges in
the district over the last two months had “repeatedly treated my
appointment as disqualifying” without actually removing her from the
role.
“The court's remedy did not match its rhetoric. It treated me as
though I had been removed from office — declaring my appointment
unlawful and striking my name from filings — while never taking the
single step Judge Currie identified as the consequence of that
conclusion: appointing a replacement U.S. attorney,” she said.
___
Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this
report.
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