Donald Trump nominated his personal lawyer Lindsay Halligan to the office of US district attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. He forced Erick Siebert from the job after he refused to investigate former FBI director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Halligan, who represented Trump on lawsuits against the FBI search of Mar a Lago and other matters began investigations into Comey and James. In November, a judge ruled that Halligan’s appointment had exceeded the temporary window established in the Federal Vacancies Reform Act. The Department of Justice appealed the ruling the following month. In January 2026, as judges sought to replace Halligan, she departed the DOJ. Her appointment wasn’t confirmed by the Senate.
Halligan continued to use the title of US district court judge, an illegal act that put her back in court.
Her defense “contains a level of vitriol more appropriate for a cable news talk show and falls far beneath the level of advocacy expected from litigants in this Court, particularly the Department of Justice,” according to Tuesday’s order from Virginia District Judge David Novak. She has “no legal basis” to continue the “charade,” the judge wrote. “This charade of Ms. Halligan masquerading as the United States Attorney for this District in direct defiance of binding court orders must come to an end,” he added. The Independent
Her investigations into Comey and James were blasted as illegal because of her role and according to some justices amounted to political interference (USA Today).
Did you know? Former US President Ronald Reagan was an actor before taking up politics.
Halligan is another of Trump’s attractive appointments who know how to play the part given them. Notable appointments of secretary of homeland security Kristi Noem and attorney general Pam Bondi are others. But hey, can’t hurt Trump’s political image to have all those attractive women around.
“Acting is like lying. The art of lying well. I’m paid to tell elaborate lies” – Mel Gibson