Tempers flared in Washington as Attorney General Pam Bondi erupted in outrage, accusing federal judges of orchestrating a targeted attack against ex-beauty queen Lindsey Halligan—Donald Trump’s controversial pick to prosecute some of his biggest political foes. Bondi, never one to bite her tongue, tore into what she branded “rogue judges” after Lindsey Halligan’s indictments against former FBI boss James Comey and New York’s powerhouse AG Letitia James were tossed out. According to the bench, Halligan—hand-selected by Trump and booted in after Erik Siebert got the axe—was never legally meant to hold the interim U.S. attorney seat in Virginia’s Eastern District, making her moves against Comey and James instantly null and void.
Bondi, flanked by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche (R), held court at the DOJ news conference, slamming unnamed district and magistrate judges in Virginia. She claimed these judges were hell-bent on destroying Halligan’s reputation, accusing them of running a “shameless campaign of bias and hostility” towards Halligan and her team of assistant U.S. attorneys. “Our prosecutors are doing their jobs by backing DOJ positions, playing by the rulebook laid out by the legal counsel,” Bondi thundered, insisting there’s “no room for undemocratic judicial activism” under her watch.
The Justice Department fired off this statement Monday, but the gloves came off inside the courtroom as well. Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick and U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff made it crystal clear they don’t want Halligan associated with new criminal filings—especially after federal Judge Cameron McGowan Currie ruled Halligan’s appointment totally illegal in a bombshell verdict late last month. Currie’s ruling means every prosecution or plea she’s touched is now tainted.
The scandal isn’t just legal—Halligan’s rise from pageant queen to Trump’s handpicked legal gun has raised plenty of eyebrows. Her prosecution of James Comey, who’s been in Trump’s crosshairs ever since Mueller’s Russia investigation, and Letitia James, the bulldog AG who hammered Trump in a civil fraud suit, has only turned up the heat. Comey, axed by Trump in 2017, pleaded not guilty last October to charges accusing him of fibbing to Congress during 2020’s fiery Senate hearings. Meanwhile, James was slapped by Halligan with bank fraud and making false statements charges—a move she shot down in a furious denial.
The drama swirling around Halligan, Bondi, and Trump’s ongoing legal battles is only intensifying. With federal judges refusing to let Halligan anywhere near new cases, it looks like the courtroom brawls aren’t ending anytime soon.
