Federal judge says Trump-appointed federal prosecutor in Virginia is ‘masquerading’ in the job

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two judges in Virginia are rejecting Trump administration arguments that a White House loyalist can continue serving as a top federal prosecutor in the state, with one on Tuesday soliciting applications for a replacement and the other prohibiting Lindsey Halligan from continuing to represent herself in his court as a United States attorney.

The dual orders from separate judges marked a dramatic new front in an ongoing clash between the Trump administration and the federal court over the legitimacy of Halligan’s appointment. A White House aide with no prior prosecutorial experience, Halligan was picked for the role by President Donald Trump in September only to have a judge two months later rule that the appointment was illegal.

The Trump administration has kept Halligan in place despite that ruling, but on Tuesday, two judges made clear that they believed it was time for her tenure to end. Similar disputes have occurred in other districts across the country, where judges have rejected other Trump administration efforts to install acting prosecutors outside conventional protocol.

In one order, M. Hannah Lauck, the chief judge of the Eastern District of Virginia and a nominee of President Barack Obama, directed a clerk to publish a vacancy announcement on the court’s website and with the news media and said she was “soliciting expressions of interest in serving in that position.” The judge noted that the 120-day appointment given to Halligan, who has since been nominated by Trump but not confirmed by the Senate, expires on Tuesday.

In a separate order, U.S. District Judge David Novak said he was striking the words “United States Attorney” from the signature block of an indictment in a case that was before him, and barred her from continuing to represent herself with that title. He said he would initiate disciplinary proceedings against Halligan if she violated his order and persisted in identifying herself in court filings as a U.S. attorney, and said other signatories could be subject to discipline as well.

“No matter all of her machinations, Ms. Halligan has no legal basis to represent to this Court that she holds the position. And any such representation going forward can only be described as a false statement made in direct defiance of valid court orders,” Novak wrote. “In short, this charade of Ms. Halligan masquerading as the United States Attorney for this District in direct defiance of binding court orders must come to an end.”

The order from Novak, who was appointed to the bench by Trump during the Republican president’s first term in office, followed a defiant filing from Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in which they stood behind Halligan’s authority and accused the judge of abusing his power by demanding that Halligan publicly explain why she continues to identify herself as a U.S. attorney.

“Ms. Halligan’s response, in which she was joined by both the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General, contains a level of vitriol more appropriate for a cable news talk show and falls far beneath the level of advocacy expected from litigants in this Court, particularly the Department of Justice,” Novak wrote.

“The Court will not engage in a similar tit-for-tat and will instead analyze the few points that Ms. Halligan offers to justify her continued identification of her position as United States Attorney before the Court,” he added.

Halligan was named to the job on an acting basis in September after the Trump administration effectively forced out veteran prosecutor Erik Siebert amid pressure to bring charges against two of Trump’s political foes, former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General.

Halligan secured the indictment but the win was short-lived. In November, U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie ruled that Halligan was illegally appointed as an acting U.S. attorney.