WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Saturday that he would be nominating senior White House aide Lindsey Halligan to serve as the top federal prosecutor for the Virginia office that was thrown into turmoil when its U.S. attorney was pushed out Friday.
In a social media post just after he departed the White House for an event at Mount Vernon, Trump wrote he was nominating Halligan as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, writing that she “will be Fair, Smart, and will provide,
desperately needed, JUSTICE FOR ALL!”
The move would place one of the president’s legal defenders in charge of an office in tumult over political pressure by administration officials to criminally charge New York Attorney General Letitia James, a longtime foe of Trump, in a mortgage fraud investigation.
Erik Siebert, who had been the office’s top prosecutor, resigned amid a push by Trump administration officials to bring charges in the investigation, which stems from alleged paperwork discrepancies on James’ Brooklyn townhouse and a Virginia home.
The Justice Department has spent months investigating, and there’s been no indication that prosecutors have managed to uncover any degree of incriminating evidence necessary to secure an indictment. James’ lawyers have vigorously denied any allegations and characterized the investigation as an act of political revenge.
Halligan has been part of Trump’s legal orbit for the last several years, including serving as one of his attorneys in the early days of the FBI’s investigation into Trump’s retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. She has more recently been enlisted in a White House effort to remove what the administration contends is “improper ideology” from Smithsonian properties.
Earlier Saturday, Trump posted to social media what appeared to be somewhat of an open letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, saying he had “reviewed over 30 statements and posts” that he characterized as criticizing his administration for a lack of action on investigations, including the one into James' dealings. Asked as he departed the White House if he was criticizing Bondi, Trump said he just wanted action.
“We have to act fast — one way or the other,” Trump said. "They’re guilty, they’re not guilty — we have to act fast. If they’re not guilty, that’s fine. If they are guilty or if they should be charged, they should be charged. And we have to do it now.”
Trump’s selection of Halligan came just hours after another conservative lawyer, Mary “Maggie” Cleary, said in an email to staff that she had been named acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, according to a copy viewed by The Associated Press.
“While this appointment was unexpected, I am humbled to be joining your ranks,” Cleary, a conservative lawyer who has said she was falsely accused of being at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, told employees in the email.
While Siebert said in an email to colleagues Friday evening that he had submitted his resignation, Trump said in a social media post: "He didn’t quit, I fired him!" Trump noted he was backed by the state’s two Democratic senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, adding: “Next time let him go in as a Democrat, not a Republican.”
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Associated Press writers Eric Tucker in Washington and Meg Kinnard in Chapin, South Carolina, contributed to this report.
