Trump's new US attorney confronted with 'not-so-subtle sign of protest' from staff: report

Lindsey Halligan – who was sworn in earlier this week as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia — has an uphill battle not just in a high-profile prosecution, but also in winning over her own staff.

That's according to a Friday article by CNN, which reported that Halligan alone asked a grand jury to hand down felony indictments for former FBI Director James Comey — the first-ever former FBI director to be charged with federal crimes. This is a reportedly unusual step for U.S. attorneys, who typically have help from other career Department of Justice prosecutors to convince a grand jury to bring charges against a defendant. CNN characterized this as "a not-so-subtle sign of protest from the Eastern District of Virginia prosecutors over the strength of the case."

Comey was ultimately indicted on two of the three charges Halligan brought, which were for making false statements and obstruction of justice. The grand jury declined to indict on a separate false statements charge, which CNN noted was "a very unusual occurrence in the federal justice system."

"It’s very rare for a count that’s been presented to the grand jury to be rejected," former assistant U.S. attorney Timothy Belevetz — who worked in the Eastern District of Virginia – told CNN.

Additionally, the full charging document is just two pages long, and has no other signatures other than Halligan's (a typical charging document will have multiple signatures from prosecutors in addition to the U.S. attorney overseeing the case). CNN further reported that both Attorney General Pam Bondi and other DOJ prosecutors had "concerns" about the strength of the case against Comey.

Halligan has no prior experience as a prosecutor, and worked as an insurance lawyer before Trump put her on the legal team handling his classified documents case. Halligan never had to defend Trump in a trial setting, as U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon (who Trump appointed to the Southern District of Florida in 2020) threw the case out after the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court gave Trump absolute criminal immunity for any "official acts."

CNN reported that the indictment capped off a "tumultuous" week for the Eastern District of Virginia, which has had three separate people in charge of the office in just the past seven days. Former U.S. attorney Erik Siebert was forced to resign from his post despite being appointed by President Donald Trump to head up the district in May. Siebert had told Trump administration officials that there wasn't sufficient evidence to bring charges against Comey or other Trump rivals, like New York Attorney General Letitia James and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) After he left, former Virginia Commonwealth's Attorney Mary "Maggie" Cleary — who had recently joined the DOJ's criminal division – was made acting head of the office before Halligan was sworn in.

The shakeup began after Trump posted a weekend screed to his Truth Social platform directed at Bondi, expressing frustration that his rivals hadn't yet been hit with criminal charges. He wrote: "They're all guilty as hell, but nothing will be done," and added that Bondi needed to act "NOW" and that the DOJ "can't delay any longer."

Click here to read CNN's full report.