A veteran prosecutor who was recruited to help run a key U.S. attorney’s office in Virginia was abruptly dismissed last week after disagreements with the Trump administration, according to two people with knowledge of the firing.
Robert K. McBride was first assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia for about two months, starting after President Donald Trump and his administration purged the top prosecutors in the office and ordered that criminal charges be filed against two of the president’s perceived political opponents, former FBI director James B. Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
McBride had been second-in-command to Lindsey Halligan, the Trump administration lawyer who leads the office but who was disqualified from her position by a judge in late November. His ouster provides the latest sign of upheaval in what has long been regarded as one of the most prestigious U.S. attorney’s offices in the country, which has seen a raft of firings and resignations after the Comey and James prosecutions. A federal judge dismissed indictments against both last year after finding that Halligan was not lawfully appointed.
McBride had been a federal prosecutor in Kentucky for more than 15 years before moving into private practice. He was recruited last year to the Virginia prosecutor’s office as a seasoned legal hand who could assist Halligan — who had no experience as a prosecutor — in managing about 300 lawyers and support staff dealing with national security issues, leaks of classified information and international terrorism cases. McBride could not be reached for comment Monday.
His firing followed several disagreements with Halligan, including over how to proceed with the Comey case after the indictment against him was dismissed, according to the people familiar with the ouster. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a personnel issue. Halligan and a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office did not respond to emailed questions about why McBride was dismissed.
McBride’s dismissal coincided with the hiring of Patrick Hopple, who was most recently an attorney for the Department of Homeland Security at its D.C. headquarters. Hopple will be working on the executive floor of the U.S. attorney’s office, alongside Halligan, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, McBride automatically would have become the acting U.S. attorney if Halligan vacated her position. In addition to the ruling disqualifying her from holding the job, Halligan also could be forced to resign when the statutory limit on her 120-day appointment passes next week.
In November, Senior U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie ruled that Halligan’s appointment as interim U.S. attorney was invalid because of the unusual maneuver the Trump administration used to install her. Trump had already appointed an interim prosecutor to lead the office, Erik S. Siebert, at the start of his term in January 2025. Siebert was forced out in September after declining to seek charges against Comey and James. Career prosecutors had recommended against pursuing the two cases because of insufficient evidence of wrongdoing.
Currie ruled that under federal law, the power to appoint a U.S. attorney shifted to the federal judges in the Eastern District of Virginia after Siebert’s 120-day appointment concluded.
The Justice Department has appealed the ruling, but it never requested a stay, meaning that the ruling disqualifying Halligan remains in effect for now. Nonetheless, she has continued to represent herself as the U.S. attorney in court filings, a stance that has drawn sharp questions from federal judges in her district.
Last week, U.S. District Judge David Novak in Richmond ordered Halligan to explain in writing by Tuesday why she has continued to use the U.S. attorney title despite Currie’s ruling. Novak, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, suggested that Halligan may be making false or misleading statements to the court.
U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema, who supervises the Alexandria, Virginia, courthouse, also had pointed words at a hearing Friday.
“I want to ask the government why, in light of Judge Currie’s orders and now Judge Novak’s order, you’re continuing to include the name of Ms. Halligan on pleadings, where, at this point, there’s no legal authority for her name to be on them,” Brinkema asked an assistant U.S. attorney, according to a court transcript.
The prosecutor responded that the office’s position was that Currie’s order was not applicable outside of the Comey and James cases.
Brinkema ordered Halligan’s name struck from court filings.
“As you know, I am on the record saying she should resign from the position at this point,” the judge said.
McBride’s firing continues a pattern of confusion that prosecutors and government lawyers in the office, known as EDVA, have been privately fretting about for months. The former first assistant U.S. attorney, Maya D. Song, was demoted and then fired last year, along with the chief of the office’s national security unit, Michael P. Ben’Ary. Both had served in the office for more than a decade.
Two well-regarded supervisors also have left in recent months. Brian Samuels, who had been serving as chief of the office’s criminal division, was demoted last year. Alexander Blanchard, who had led the major crimes unit, resigned for a job at a law firm.
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