Topline
The Trump administration is reportedly preparing to seek an indictment against FBI Director James Comey, marking the first major test for Acting U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, a former Trump defense attorney whom the president installed as he pressures the Justice Department to prosecute his political foes—even when evidence suggests they didn’t do anything wrong.
Lindsey Halligan speaks with a reporter outside of the White House on Aug. 20.
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Key Facts
The U.S. Attorney’s office in the Eastern District of Virginia will seek an indictment against Comey before a statute of limitations expires on Tuesday, multiple outlets reported Wednesday, after Trump suggested on Truth Social over the weekend the ex-FBI chief should be prosecuted.
Halligan is now overseeing the Eastern District of Virginia in an acting capacity after Trump appointed her to the U.S. attorney role over the weekend, after firing the previous U.S. attorney Erik Siebert.
Reports suggest Siebert was ousted after he declined to prosecute New York Attorney General Letitia James, another Trump adversary, so Halligan is widely seen as being more willing to go after the president’s political foes.
The attorney previously represented Trump in multiple personal lawsuits the president was involved with during his years out of office, and more recently served in his administration as a White House special assistant and senior associate staff secretary.
Halligan does not have any previous prosecutorial experience.
What To Watch For
Halligan’s office is expected to seek an indictment against Comey by Tuesday, when the statute of limitations will expire on any allegations arising from the former FBI Director’s Sept. 30, 2020, testimony to Congress. Reports suggest prosecutors are considering a few potential comments Comey made during that testimony as forming the potential basis for perjury charges, such as Comey’s statements that he didn’t authorize FBI officials to leak any information about investigations or receive notice about a purported plan by Hillary Clinton to harm Trump during the 2016 election. There’s little evidence that Comey did lie to Congress, however, and ABC News reports prosecutors in Halligan’s office presented her with a memo recommending she did not try to indict Comey, based on a lack of evidence. While Halligan’s office can present potential charges to a grand jury, it will ultimately be up to the grand jury to determine whether an indictment can be brought. It remains to be seen if Halligan’s office will try to bring a separate indictment against James, as prosecutors have similarly reportedly argued there is insufficient evidence to charge her with any wrongdoing.
Who Is Lindsey Halligan?
Halligan is a 36-year-old attorney who previously worked as a lawyer in the insurance industry, making partner at firm Cole, Scott & Kissane before joining Trump’s personal legal team. The lawyer met Trump in 2021 at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, The Washington Post reports, and went on to represent him in such issues as a legal dispute over the FBI’s search of Mar-a-Lago and his defamation case against CNN. Prior to taking the U.S. attorney job, Halligan gained attention for spearheading the White House’s controversial effort to remove so-called “improper ideology” from Smithsonian museums, telling the Post that such ideology constitutes “weaponizing history” and “we don’t need to overemphasize the negative to teach people that certain aspects of our nation’s history may have been bad.” Halligan has kept a lower public profile than some of Trump’s other personal attorneys but has been highly supportive of Trump in public appearances, and told the Post she joined the president’s personal legal team because she saw him as “someone who was getting railroaded by the system.”
What Has Trump Said About Lindsey Halligan?
In his Truth Social post announcing her U.S. attorney appointment, Trump described Halligan as “a tough, smart, and loyal attorney” who “is extremely intelligent, fearless and … has the strength and determination to be absolutely OUTSTANDING in this new and very important role.” The president wrote Halligan had worked with him “for a long time” and claimed the attorney “witnessed firsthand” the “Weaponization of our Justice System” against him.
What We Don’t Know
How long Halligan will serve as U.S. attorney. Trump can only appoint Halligan to the U.S. attorney role in an acting capacity without Senate confirmation, and she can only serve in the role for 120 days. At that point, she would either have to be confirmed by the Senate, or have judges in the district vote to keep her on. That’s previously proved to be an issue for the Trump administration, which has had to use various legal maneuvers to keep Trump-friendly U.S. attorneys in their roles when judges refuse—undertaking practices that at least one court has so far ruled to be unlawful. It’s still unclear whether the Trump administration will ask the Senate to confirm Halligan, but she could face an uphill battle if it does. Virginia’s two senators—both Democrats—have what’s known as a “blue slip” authority over federal nominees in their state, allowing them to essentially veto the nominees. Virginia Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine told the Post they would review Halligan’s nomination if it came to them, but they previously haven’t supported nominees that don’t have prosecutorial or Justice Department experience.
Key Background
The news of Comey’s potential prosecution comes as Trump and his Justice Department have increasingly started investigating the president’s political rivals, fulfilling a longtime suggestion by Trump that he intended to seek “retribution” against his enemies. In addition to James and Comey, the Trump administration is also reportedly pursuing probes against Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and billionaire Democrat donor George Soros and his group Open Society Foundations, among others. Trump drew scrutiny over the weekend for openly encouraging the Justice Department and Attorney General Pam Bondi to prosecute his rivals, writing on Truth Social, “We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility.” The post has drawn widespread controversy due the DOJ’s history of remaining independent from the White House to prevent political interference. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has defended Trump advocating for legal action against his enemies, telling reporters Wednesday, “The president has every right to express how he feels about these people who literally … tried to ruin his life” and Trump “wants to see accountability for those who have abused their office and abused their power.”
Further Reading
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