EDVA Interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan Departs After Judge Invalidates Appointment and Bars Her from Using Title
After U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie ruled in November that Lindsey Halligan’s appointment as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia was unlawful and dismissed indictments tied to that appointment, U.S. District Judge David Novak ordered Halligan to explain within seven days why she continued to use the U.S. attorney title, struck the designation from a current indictment, and in an 18‑page order barred her from identifying herself as U.S. attorney and warned of possible disciplinary action if she persisted. The Justice Department — including Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy AG Todd Blanche — joined Halligan in disputing Novak’s order and has appealed Currie’s ruling while internal efforts to revive the Comey prosecution led to the firing of Halligan’s top deputy Robert McBride; Halligan subsequently left the interim post after her 120‑day appointment expired, with Bondi faulting Senate blue‑slip holds.
📌 Key Facts
- U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie’s November ruling found Lindsey Halligan’s appointment unlawful and dismissed the indictments she brought against James Comey and New York AG Letitia James.
- The Justice Department has appealed Currie’s decision but did not obtain a stay from the 4th Circuit, leaving Currie’s ruling binding in the Eastern District of Virginia while the appeal proceeds.
- Attorney General Pam Bondi issued an October order purporting to retroactively appoint Halligan as a special attorney effective Sept. 22, and DOJ Office of Legal Counsel guidance and internal emails nonetheless instructed prosecutors to continue listing Halligan as U.S. Attorney on pleadings — steps Currie found did not cure the appointment defects.
- U.S. District Judge David Novak ordered Halligan to explain in writing within seven days why she continued to identify herself as U.S. Attorney and why that would not be a false or misleading statement, and in a later 18‑page order struck 'United States Attorney' from her signature block, formally barred her from using the title in his court and warned of possible disciplinary proceedings.
- Novak condemned a joint response signed by Halligan, AG Bondi and Deputy AG Todd Blanche as containing 'vitriol more appropriate for a cable news talk show,' said it fell beneath expected DOJ advocacy standards, and warned he may pursue discipline against any signatories who ignore his orders.
- Chief Judge M. Hannah Lauck directed the clerk to publish a vacancy announcement for a new U.S. attorney as Halligan’s 120‑day appointment expired; Halligan says she has left the interim role, calling the court’s ruling effectively disqualifying and complaining of baseless accusations and a resulting 'vacuum.'
- Robert K. McBride, Halligan’s top deputy and first assistant in the EDVA, was fired after resisting DOJ efforts to have him run the office and lead the renewed Comey prosecution; another account alleges he was dismissed for secretly meeting with judges to lobby for Halligan’s job and for resisting certain immigration and drug prosecutions, and DOJ leaders backed his removal.
- Reports say Halligan secured the Comey and Letitia James indictments without participation from career prosecutors who reportedly declined because they found the evidence weak; both indictments were dismissed, DOJ has twice failed to re‑indict James and faces statute‑of‑limitations complications in the Comey matter, though the administration is seeking to revive the prosecution.
🔬 Explanations (3)
Deeper context and explanatory frameworks for understanding this story
Phenomenon: Persistence of acting officials in DOJ roles despite legal challenges and invalidation rulings
Explanation: Ambiguities in the Federal Vacancies Reform Act (FVRA) and reliance on informal norms rather than enforceable rules allow administrations to extend acting tenures, with slow judicial enforcement enabling continued operations during appeals
Evidence: The FVRA contains loopholes that permit repeated extensions or reinterpretations, compounded by lack of transparency in personnel decisions, leading to prolonged acting service even after court challenges
Alternative view: Senate gridlock on confirmations forces reliance on actings to maintain agency function
💡 Shifts focus from individual administration tactics to broader systemic flaws in vacancy laws, complicating narratives that attribute issues solely to one president's disregard for norms
Phenomenon: Use of DOJ for prosecuting political opponents
Explanation: Historical expansions of executive authority over DOJ, starting from Nixon-era claims of presidential control over prosecutions, have eroded traditional norms of prosecutorial independence, enabling direct political influence
Evidence: Nixon administration asserted presidential direction of DOJ actions, a claim expanded under later administrations, leading to weakened separation of powers and increased politicization
Alternative view: Structural lack of internal accountability mechanisms within DOJ allows political interference without sufficient checks
💡 Highlights long-term erosion across administrations, challenging coverage that frames it as a novel or isolated phenomenon tied only to recent political figures
Phenomenon: Bypassing standard appointment processes for interim U.S. attorneys
Explanation: Increased presidential reliance on acting officials stems from institutional incentives to avoid Senate confirmation delays, facilitated by FVRA provisions that allow temporary appointments without oversight
Evidence: Analysis shows rising use of actings since FVRA enactment in 1998, driven by partisan Senate blockages and executive preference for flexibility in key positions
📰 Source Timeline (10)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
- Halligan publicly states she has left the interim U.S. attorney role after her 120‑day appointment expired, citing the court’s November ruling as effectively disqualifying her.
- She says she was "subjected to baseless accusations of lying to a tribunal and making false or misleading statements," and ordered to personally sign filings explaining why her name appeared on pleadings.
- Halligan emphasizes that even after declaring her appointment invalid, the district court did not appoint a new U.S. attorney, which she calls a "vacuum" now at issue on appeal over separation of powers.
- Attorney General Pam Bondi issues a supportive statement on X blaming Democratic senators’ use of the blue‑slip process for blocking continuation of Halligan’s tenure, and calling the circumstances of her departure "deeply misguided."
- Chief Judge M. Hannah Lauck of the Eastern District of Virginia issued an order directing the clerk to publish a vacancy announcement and solicit applications for a new U.S. attorney, noting Halligan’s 120‑day appointment expires Tuesday.
- Judge David Novak struck the words 'United States Attorney' from Halligan’s signature block on an indictment in a case before him and formally barred her from representing herself as U.S. attorney in his court.
- Novak warned he will initiate disciplinary proceedings against Halligan — and potentially against other signatories — if she continues to use the U.S. attorney title in defiance of court orders, calling her continued claims a 'charade' and 'masquerading' in the role.
- Novak’s order responds to a 'defiant' filing signed by Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy AG Todd Blanche that he described as containing 'vitriol more appropriate for a cable news talk show' and falling beneath expected DOJ advocacy standards.
- Direct language from Novak’s 18-page order that Halligan’s continued use of the title 'ignores a binding court order and may not continue,' and that she could face disciplinary proceedings if she persists.
- More detailed explanation that Judge Cameron Currie’s November ruling invalidating Halligan’s appointment and dismissing the Comey and Letitia James indictments 'speaking for all district judges in this District' constitutes the law of the district until overturned or stayed.
- Quoting Novak’s criticism that DOJ’s response brief contained 'a level of vitriol more appropriate for a cable news talk show' and fell 'far beneath the level of advocacy' expected from DOJ, along with his warning that allowing DOJ to pick which orders it obeys would make 'our system of justice...crumble.'
- Judge David Novak issued an 18‑page order formally barring Lindsey Halligan from identifying herself as U.S. attorney in any legal matter, calling any such representation a 'false statement' made in defiance of valid court orders.
- Novak directed that Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche be given the same instruction after they joined Halligan’s written response as signatories.
- The judge condemned their response as containing 'a level of vitriol more appropriate for a cable news talk show' and warned he will pursue disciplinary action against Halligan, DOJ, or any other signatories if they continue to ignore his orders.
- Judge David Novak ordered Lindsey Halligan to explain in writing why it is not false or misleading for her to continue identifying herself as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia after another judge ruled her appointment illegal.
- DOJ leadership — Attorney General Pam Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and Halligan herself — filed a joint response calling Novak’s focus on her signature block a 'gross abuse of power' and 'an affront to the separation of powers.'
- Bondi and Blanche argue that Judge Cameron McGowan Currie’s earlier order dismissing the Comey and Letitia James cases does not bar Halligan from acting as U.S. attorney or using the title, directly contesting Currie’s and Novak’s readings of her status.
- Robert McBride, the first assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia and the office’s second‑highest‑ranking prosecutor, was fired Monday after refusing to help lead DOJ’s prosecution of James Comey.
- McBride, a former longtime Eastern District of Kentucky prosecutor and Navy JAG, had only been in the EDVA No. 2 job for a few months after joining in the fall.
- Halligan secured indictments of Comey and New York AG Letitia James without participation from any career prosecutors, who sources say refused because the evidence was weak.
- A federal judge dismissed both indictments in November on the ground that Halligan was unlawfully appointed, and DOJ is appealing while having twice failed to re‑indict James and facing statute‑of‑limitations complications in the Comey case.
- Senior prosecutor Robert K. McBride, Halligan’s top deputy and first assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, was fired after he resisted simultaneously running the office and leading the Trump administration’s effort to re‑indict James Comey.
- DOJ leadership wanted McBride to take charge of restarting the Comey prosecution after Halligan’s appointment was ruled unlawful and her earlier Comey and Letitia James indictments were dismissed.
- A rival account from another source claims McBride was dismissed for allegedly meeting secretly with judges to lobby for Halligan’s job and for resisting immigration and drug cases tied to sanctuary‑city policies; DOJ leaders are said to have backed his firing.
- The story confirms that, despite the judge’s ruling against Halligan’s appointment, the Trump administration is actively trying to revive the Comey case rather than letting it die.
- Identifies the new three-page order from U.S. District Judge David Novak directing Lindsey Halligan to file within seven days a written explanation justifying her identification as U.S. attorney in a current indictment.
- Quotes Novak’s requirement that Halligan explain why her identification 'does not constitute a false or misleading statement' and why the title should not be struck from the indictment.
- Reiterates that Judge Cameron McGowan Currie’s November 24 ruling finding Halligan’s appointment unlawful is under appeal but has not been stayed, and thus remains binding on Novak’s court.
- Notes broader political context: Trump’s pressure on Senate Majority Leader John Thune to end the 'blue slip' tradition and cites Alina Habba’s December 8 resignation as U.S. attorney in New Jersey after a similar appeals court ruling that her appointment was unlawful.
- Judge David Novak has formally ordered Lindsey Halligan to explain within seven days why she continues to identify herself as a U.S. attorney and why that does not constitute a false or misleading statement.
- Novak directed Halligan to provide reasons why the court should not strike her identification as United States attorney from a December indictment returned by a federal grand jury.
- The article details that after Judge Cameron Currie’s November ruling invalidating Halligan’s appointment, prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia were nevertheless instructed via internal email to keep listing her as both United States Attorney and Special United States Attorney on all pleadings, citing DOJ Office of Legal Counsel approval.
- Attorney General Pam Bondi issued an October order purporting to retroactively appoint Halligan as a special attorney effective Sept. 22, which Currie nonetheless found did not cure the appointment defects.
- Novak emphasizes that Currie’s decision remains binding precedent in the district because DOJ has appealed but has not sought a stay from the 4th Circuit.
- The piece recaps the timeline of Halligan’s appointment, Siebert’s departure, and her rapid pursuit of indictments against James Comey and New York AG Letitia James, which Currie has now ordered dismissed as flowing from a defective appointment.