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Donald Trump said he was appointing his former lawyer Lindsey Halligan to be US attorney for the eastern district of Virginia after an extraordinary outburst in which he overtly put pressure on his attorney general to more aggressively pursue senior public officials he regards as his political enemies.
“Pam Bondi is doing a GREAT job as attorney general of the United States. She is very careful, very smart, loves our country, but needs a tough prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia, like my recommendation, Lindsey Halligan, to get things moving,” Trump wrote on Truth Social post, announcing his decision.
In an earlier online outburst that read as much like a direct message to Bondi as a public post, Trump demanded she appoint Halligan – his special assistant and a onetime beauty queen – to replace Erik Siebert, a former police officer and experienced prosecutor and US attorney who resigned after finding no grounds for prosecuting the New York attorney general, Letitia James.
“We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW,” Trump wrote.
Halligan was among the lawyers who represented Trump in civil litigation after his Mar-a-Lago resort was raided in a search for classified documents.
It was not immediately clear if Halligan would serve in the role on an interim basis before a confirmation vote by the US Senate.
Prior to the announcement of Halligan’s appointment, Mary “Maggie” Cleary, a US justice department lawyer who once said Joe Biden’s presidential administration targeted her for being conservative, told colleagues she had been unexpectedly tapped for the post, according to an email seen by Reuters.
Trump administration officials previously told Siebert that the president was frustrated his office had not yet brought criminal mortgage fraud charges against James, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The office is also involved in an investigation targeting James Comey, a former FBI director who like the New York attorney general is regarded as an enemy by Trump. That investigation is tied to the bureau’s investigation of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Regarding both officials, Siebert had previously said he did not believe the evidence was strong enough to bring charges, the sources told Reuters.
