Washington– The Justice Department decided on Friday to fire a lawyer selected by judges to be the top federal prosecutor for an office in Virginia prosecuting cases against enemies of President Donald Trump, in the latest clash over prosecutors’ appointments. Powerful American lawyers.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced James Hundley’s firing on social media shortly after he was unanimously selected by the justices to replace Trump’s former lawyer. Lindsay Halligan is a temporary US attorney For the Eastern District of Virginia. While the law states that a district court may select U.S. attorneys upon expiration of the initial appointment, the Trump administration has insisted that the power rests solely in the hands of the executive branch.
“EDVA judges don’t choose the US Attorney General. The President of the United States 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, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Friday evening.
Hundley’s firing is the latest reflection of turmoil at one of the Justice Department’s most elite prosecutorial offices, which has been mired in turmoil since September in the wake of Hundley’s killing. Veteran prosecutor resigns Amid pressure from the Trump administration to prosecute two of the president’s biggest political enemies, former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
That prosecutor, Eric Seibert, was forced to step down and was quickly replaced by Halligan, a White House aide who had obtained indictments against Comey and James but was later deemed indicted by a judge. He was appointed illegally. These cases were dismissed, but the Ministry of Justice appealed this decision.
Halligan resigned from her position last month after judges in the region indicated continued doubts about the legality of her appointment.
U.S. attorneys, the top federal prosecutors in regional Justice Department offices across the country, typically need Senate confirmation, but the law allows prosecutors to make temporary appointments for limited periods of time. However, in several cases, the Justice Department attempted to leave temporary appointees in office in ways that led to court challenges and faced resistance from judges who found the appointments illegal.
Last week, the Justice Department fired a lawyer appointed by judges to be the U.S. attorney for upstate New York, after he spent less than a day on the job. The district’s judges appointed Kinsella after they refused to keep Trump administration pick John Sarcone in place after his 120-day term expired.