Judge Accuses Trump-Appointed Prosecutor of Letitia James, James Comey of ‘a Charade,’ Orders Her Removed From Office

The blistering ruling by Judge David Novak, that the “charade” of President Trump’s handpicked prosecutor for the Eastern District of Virginia, Lindsey Halligan, “masquerading as the United States Attorney in direct defiance of binding court orders must come to an end” appears certain to escalate a clash with the Trump administration over its efforts to prosecute Letitia James and James Comey. The judge accuses Ms. Halligan, in a shocking reprimand, of “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. The Court will not engage in a similar tit-for-tat.” Judge Novak’s decision follows on the disqualification, by Judge Cameron McGowan Currie — a South Carolina-based appointee of President Clinton — of Ms. Halligan as a top federal prosecutor in the Eastern District — which includes the affluent Washington D.C. suburb where Mr. Comey, the former FBI director, resides and also includes Norfolk, where Ms. James, New York’s attorney general owns a modest house she’s accused of illegally claiming as her primary residence. Mr. Trump has been unable to appoint his desired prosecutors in “blue states” like Virginia because of a Senate convention known as “blue-slipping” which gives the state’s senators, even if they are from the minority party, veto power over United States attorney picks. The Trump DOJ therefore has been engaging in legal gymnastics to put interim prosecutors in place who are not confirmed by the Senate, and these gymnastics have run into firm opposition from the federal legal establishment. The Republican Senate majority leader, John Thune, for his part, has refused Mr. Trump’s entreaties to end blue-slipping.In her disqualification rulings, Judge Currie also dismissed the charges against Mr. Comey — charged with lying to Congress — and Ms. James, charged with mortgage fraud.Attorney General Pam Bondi and her top deputy, Todd Blanche, have argued to Judge Novak — a rare President Trump who’s ruled against the administration — that the disqualification of Ms. Halligan applied only to the cases against Mr. Comey and Ms. James, not to the office as a whole. They point to Special Counsel Jack Smith, who held himself out as lead prosecutor of Mr. Trump, even after Judge Aileen Cannon ruled that he was unlawfully appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland. Judge Novak, though, declares that “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.” He also “STRIKES the words ‘United States Attorney’ from the signature block on the Indictment, as well as all other Government filings in this case.”Judge Novak writes that he also “BARS Ms. Halligan from representing herself as the United States Attorney in any pleading or otherwise before this Court until such time as she may lawfully hold the office either by Senate confirmation or appointment by this Court.” Judge Novak also threatens that “Ms. Halligan and anyone who joins her on a pleading containing the improper moniker subjects themselves to potential disciplinary action in this Court pursuant to the Court’s Local Rules.”That is a threat of disciplinary action for a legal ally of Mr. Trump who served on his defense team in the Mar-a-Lago case and who was appointed to set a new ideological course for the Smithsonian museums. Judge Novak denounces Ms. Halligan for “unnecessary rhetoric” and reasons that since she “has filed no motions of any sort in this Court seeking the ability to continue to identify herself as the United States Attorney despite Judge Currie’s rulings,” she cannot continue to identify as a United States attorney.One snag for Ms. Halligan is that Judge Currie was brought in from the Palmetto State to rule specifically on the lawfulness of Ms. Halligan’s appointment in both the prosecution of Mr. Comey and “all other cases involving similar challenges.” That would seem to suggest that the disqualification applies to the entire district. It contrasts with the language Judge Cannon used with respect to Mr. Smith, which appeared limited to the case against Mr. Trump.Judge Novak determines that Judge Currie possessed “the authority to resolve the issue of the legality of Ms. Halligan’s appointment on behalf of all judges regularly sitting in the Eastern District of Virginia.” As such, he explains, “Judge Currie was appointed with the express mandate to speak for all judges in this District on the issue of Ms. Halligan’s appointment.”Judge Novak writes that he “finds it inconceivable that the Department of Justice, which holds a duty to faithfully execute the laws of the United States even those with which it may have disagreement, would repeatedly ignore court orders, while simultaneously prosecuting citizens for breaking the law.” It appears likely that the DOJ will appeal Judge Novak’s ruling to the Fourth United States Appeals Circuit.

Judge Accuses Trump-Appointed Prosecutor of Letitia James, James Comey of ‘a Charade,’ Orders Her Removed From Office

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