President Donald Trump’s hand-picked federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia was disqualified from office months ago — and now federal judges in the district have put up a job posting to replace her.
“Under 28 U.S.C. § 546(d), when the position is vacant, the Court ‘may appoint a United States Attorney to serve until the vacancy is filled,’” stated the order, issued by Chief Judge Hannah Lauck, an appointee of former President Barack Obama. “In the exercise of the authority conferred by 28 U.S.C. § 546(d) to appoint an Interim United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia until the position is filled by a Senate confirmed person, the Court is soliciting expressions of interest in serving in that position.”
Applications are set to be considered until Feb. 10.
Last September, under Trump’s pressure, the Justice Department installed Lindsey Halligan, a former insurance attorney and beauty pageant contestant, to replace the existing acting U.S. attorney after he found no legitimate basis to pursue indictments of New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey, two of Trump’s political critics.
Halligan went on to file charges, but they were thrown out, before even advancing to consideration of merits, because Senior U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie determined Halligan’s appointment was not legal in the first place. The administration attempted unsuccessfully to secure new indictments of James multiple times, then filed an appeal of the original ruling disqualifying Halligan.
Meanwhile, Halligan has continued to work in the U.S. attorney’s office and call herself a U.S. attorney, going so far as to accuse judges seeking to review this impropriety of “abuse of power” in court filings.
Hours after the job posting to replace Halligan went up, U.S. District Judge David Novak, himself a Trump appointee, ordered Halligan to stop using the title, and threatened disciplinary action against not just her but Attorney General Pam Bondi and senior DOJ officials if they continue to sign off on Halligan’s unsanctioned work product.
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