Lindsey Halligan says she can retain U.S. attorney title despite ruling

Lindsey Halligan, the Trump loyalist chosen as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, told a federal judge in Richmond that she was within her rights to continue using that title even though another judge has ruled her appointment unlawful. In an aggressively worded filing to Judge David J.

Novak, Ms. Halligan pushed back after he ordered her to explain why signing court papers as the district’s top prosecutor was not "a false or misleading statement." Last week Judge Novak acted after colleagues complained about her claiming the title. In late November, Judge Cameron McGowan Currie concluded the Justice Department violated the Constitution and appointment laws when it installed Ms.

Halligan after President Trump fired her predecessor, and Judge Currie dismissed indictments she had brought against James B. Comey and Letitia James. Ms. Halligan argued that Judge Currie’s order did not explicitly bar her from "performing the functions of or holding herself out as the United States attorney" and said the only remedy sought was dismissal of the Comey and James indictments, which she said affected only those cases.

She accused Judge Novak of having "a fundamental misunderstanding" of Judge Currie’s order and, responding to his suggestion of possible discipline, wrote that his threat was "a gross abuse of power and an affront to the separation of powers." Judge Novak has said he believes Judge Currie’s ruling is "binding" and ordered Ms.

Key Topics

Politics, Lindsey Halligan, Eastern District, United States Attorney, David Novak, Cameron Currie