President Donald Trump on Saturday announced that he will nominate senior White House aide Lindsey Halligan as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, a post left vacant following the abrupt departure of the office’s top prosecutor a day earlier.
In a social media post before leaving the White House for an event at Mount Vernon, Trump said Halligan “will be fair, smart, and will provide desperately needed justice for all.”
The move comes as Trump has been urging Attorney General Pam Bondi to accelerate investigations into several political opponents, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, a longtime adversary. The Virginia prosecutor’s office has faced growing political pressure from administration officials to pursue charges against James in a mortgage fraud case tied to her Brooklyn townhouse and a Virginia property.
Erik Siebert, who had led the office, resigned Friday amid the mounting pressure, though Trump later said on social media: “He didn’t quit, I fired him!” Siebert had previously received backing from Virginia’s Democratic senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, prompting Trump to remark: “Next time let him go in as a Democrat, not a Republican.”
The Justice Department has been investigating the case for months but has yet to present any evidence that could warrant an indictment. James has denied the allegations, describing the probe as politically motivated.
Halligan, a lawyer closely tied to Trump’s legal team for several years, previously represented him during the FBI’s investigation into classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. She has also recently taken part in a White House initiative targeting what the administration described as “improper ideology” in Smithsonian institutions.
Earlier on Saturday, Trump publicly pressed Bondi for swift action, saying, “We have to act fast — one way or the other. 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.” Despite the pressure, Trump later praised Bondi in a separate post, saying she was “doing a GREAT job.”
Halligan’s nomination followed an interim appointment. Hours before Trump’s announcement, conservative lawyer Mary “Maggie” Cleary informed staff by email that she had been named acting U.S. attorney. Cleary, who has previously denied false accusations of involvement in the January 6 Capitol riot, told employees she was “humbled” to take on the role.