Washington– Justice Department officials on Tuesday accused a federal judge of abusing his authority in demanding that Trump loyalist Lindsey Halligan explain why she continued to identify herself as a U.S. attorney in Virginia despite another judge ruling that she was illegally appointed.
Halligan secured the charges against the former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James At the request of President Donald Trump, U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie decided in November to dismiss both cases due to Halligan’s improper appointment.
Last Tuesday, U.S. District Judge David Novak in Richmond, Virginia, Halligan ordered To explain in writing why it is not incorrect or misleading for her to continue to identify herself as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia after the Curry ruling.
In a strongly worded response signed by Halligan, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, they said there was nothing in Corey’s order that prevents Halligan from serving as U.S. attorney or using that title.
“The bottom line is that Ms. Halligan did not ‘misrepresent’ anything and the court is completely wrong to suggest that any change to the government’s signature bloc is justified in this or any other case.” They wrote.
Novak, who was nominated by Trump for the position during his first term in the White House, is a former federal prosecutor. He overlapped for a time in the Eastern District of Virginia with Comey, who had previously been a supervisor in that office.
Halligan, a former White House aide with no prior prosecutorial experience, was Trump’s choice to lead one of the Justice Department’s most important offices. She replaces Eric Seibert, a veteran prosecutor who resigned in September as interim U.S. attorney amid pressure from the Trump administration to bring charges against Comey and James.
A grand jury indicted Comey three days after Bundy was sworn in by Halligan. James was charged two weeks later.
In an unrelated criminal case, Novak questioned why Halligan’s name had not been expunged from the indictment. He cited rules of court that make it professional misconduct for lawyers to make false or misleading statements.
In their response, Justice Department officials said that “Novak’s focus on the signature block address is not limited by how the federal courts actually operate.”
“The Court’s implicit threat to use attorney discipline to force the executive branch to conform its legal position in all criminal trials to the opinions of a single district judge is a gross abuse of power and an affront to the separation of powers,” they wrote.
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Associated Press writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report.