Trump nominates his former lawyer as US attorney

2025-09-21 09:29:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

US President Donald Trump said he was nominating his former lawyer Lindsey Halligan as US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, following an extraordinary outburst in which he openly pressured his attorney general to more aggressively pursue senior public officials he considers 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 strong prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia, like my recommendation, Lindsey Halligan, to get things moving," Trump wrote in the Truth Social post announcing his decision.

In an earlier online outburst that seemed as much a direct message to Bond as a public post, Trump demanded that she appoint Halligan, his special assistant and one-time beauty queen, to replace Erik Siebert, a former police officer and experienced U.S. attorney who resigned after finding no grounds to prosecute New York Attorney General Letitia James.

"We can't delay any longer, this is killing our reputation and credibility. I have been fired twice and sued (5 times!), for nothing. Justice must be served now," Trump wrote.

Halligan was among the lawyers representing Trump in a civil lawsuit after his Mar-a-Lago resort was raided in a search for classified documents.

It was not immediately clear whether Halligan would serve in the role on an interim basis before a confirmation vote by the U.S. Senate.

Before the announcement of Halligan's appointment, Mary "Maggie" Cleary, a U.S. Justice Department lawyer who once said the Joe Biden presidential administration had targeted her because she was conservative, told colleagues that she had been unexpectedly chosen for the post, according to an email first seen by Reuters.

Trump administration officials previously told Siebert that the president was frustrated that his office had not yet filed 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 considered a Trump foe. That investigation is tied to the bureau’s investigation into Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Regarding the two officials, Siebert had previously said he did not believe the evidence was strong enough to file charges, the sources told Reuters.