Lindsey Halligan, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, has stepped aside from her role as a top federal prosecutor in Virginia following a stinging rebuke from a federal judge who barred her from presenting herself as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Halligan’s departure late Tuesday, calling it a significant loss for the Justice Department while stopping short of addressing the legal controversy surrounding her appointment.
“Her departure is a significant loss for the Department of Justice and the communities she served,” Bondi said in a statement. “While we will feel her absence keenly, we are confident that she will continue to serve her country in other ways.”
The announcement came hours after U.S. District Judge David Novak issued a sharply worded order prohibiting Halligan from claiming the title of U.S. attorney in any court filings or proceedings. Novak said any continued representation of herself in that role would amount to a false statement made in direct defiance of court orders.
“In short, this charade of Ms. Halligan masquerading as the United States Attorney for this District must come to an end,” Novak wrote.
Halligan’s exit follows months of legal uncertainty over whether she was ever lawfully appointed to the powerful prosecutorial post. In November, U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie ruled that Halligan was unlawfully serving as interim U.S. attorney after the Justice Department’s authority to make the appointment had expired. That ruling led to the dismissal of high-profile cases Halligan had brought against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Despite the ruling, Halligan continued to serve in the role, prompting growing friction with the federal judiciary. Novak warned earlier that she could face disciplinary referrals if she persisted in identifying herself as the district’s top prosecutor.
In his latest order, Novak said the court would refrain from disciplinary action for now, citing Halligan’s lack of prosecutorial experience. “The Court recognizes that Ms. Halligan lacks the prosecutorial experience that has long been the norm for those nominated to this position,” he wrote, adding that she was being given “the benefit of the doubt.”
Halligan pushed back strongly against the court’s actions in a statement Tuesday night, saying she had faced “baseless accusations of lying” and claims that she made false or misleading statements.
“The court treated me as though I had been removed from office, while never taking the step of appointing a replacement,” Halligan said, arguing that the judiciary created a vacancy without formally filling it.
The controversy intensified as the chief federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia, M. Hannah Lauck, ordered the court clerk to post a vacancy announcement for an interim U.S. attorney. Under federal law, when a vacancy exists, the court has authority to appoint an interim prosecutor until the Senate confirms a permanent nominee. Applications for the position are due by Feb. 10.
Halligan, a former personal attorney to Trump, had been tapped to lead the office after her predecessor resigned amid pressure to pursue cases against Trump’s political rivals. Her lack of prior prosecutorial experience and the rapid dismissal of the cases she brought drew scrutiny from legal experts and civil liberties advocates.
Efforts to revive the prosecutions also faltered. Federal grand juries declined to indict Letitia James on mortgage-related charges, an unusual setback given the relatively low standard required for indictment. Any renewed attempt to prosecute Comey would likely face further legal challenges, including statute of limitations issues.
The Justice Department has maintained that Halligan was properly appointed based on internal legal advice, and the Trump administration has continued to publicly back her. As recently as last week, the department referred to Halligan as “United States Attorney and Special Attorney” in official filings.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche suggested that any court-appointed replacement would simply be removed by the president, underscoring the escalating standoff between the executive branch and the judiciary.
For now, Halligan’s departure leaves one of the country’s most influential U.S. attorney offices without clear leadership, while the legal and political fallout from her brief tenure continues to ripple through Washington.
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