New York Attorney General Letitia James has moved to sanction the Trump-appointed official prosecuting her over alleged mortgage fraud.
James has accused Lindsey Halligan, the acting U.S. Attorney for Eastern Virginia, of a “stunning disclosure of government information.”
The move comes after Halligan—who Trump handpicked to go after his enemies—used Signal earlier this month to communicate with a journalist about the criminal case she is pursuing against James.
Lawfare journalist Anna Bower published the full conversation on Monday, showing that Halligan had reached out to her unsolicited to complain about the coverage of the case against James.
But according to James’ defense team, Halligan violated multiple ethical and secrecy rules by commenting on the credibility and strength of the evidence presented to the grand jury.
“The exchange was a stunning disclosure of internal government information,” said the motion, filed hours before James was due to plead not guilty in a Virginia court on Friday morning.
“These extrajudicial statements and prejudicial disclosures by any prosecutor, let alone one purporting to be the U.S. Attorney, run afoul of and violate the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the Code of Federal Regulations, this Court’s Local Rules, various rules of ethical and professional responsibility, and DOJ’s Justice Manual.”
Halligan, a 36-year-old former Miss Colorado beauty pageant contestant and personal attorney of Trump’s, was elevated to her job last month after the president pushed out her predecessor, Erik Siebert.
Seibert had refused to charge another Trump enemy, former FBI Director James Comey, who Halligan had indicted for allegedly lying to Congress.
However, Comey this week sought to dismiss his case, arguing that he is being vindictively prosecuted and claiming that Halligan was unlawfully appointed.
Now James is following in his footsteps, challenging the legitimacy of Halligan’s role and using her Signal messages with a journalist to suggest that her appointment may have been irregular or politically tainted. She is also seeking to dismiss the case.
“Ms. Halligan has no prosecutorial experience whatsoever. But all federal prosecutors are required to know and follow the rules governing their conduct from their first day on the job, and so any lack of experience cannot excuse their violation,” the motion adds.
James has been one of the president’s biggest adversaries since she ran for New York Attorney General in 2018, and is one of the most hated law enforcement figures among Trump’s MAGA base.
The New York Attorney General sued Trump in 2022 while he was campaigning for the White House, accusing him of lying about his real estate empire and inflating the value of his properties for financial gain.
He was subsequently fined more than $300 million but is appealing the case, insisting he was the victim of a political witch hunt.
The administration has now accused James of misleading a bank to get more favorable mortgage terms. Prosecutors say that while she said the house would be a secondary residence, she in fact used it as a “rental investment property,” and rented it to another family.
However, James denies wrongdoing and was set to appear in court on Friday to plead not guilty to two charges: one count of bank fraud and one count of making a false statement to a financial institution.
The indictment, she has said, was “nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system.”
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