The Short and Rocky Journey of Lindsey Halligan

Lindsey Halligan's time as a US attorney was anything but smooth. She was picked by Donald Trump to lead the Alexandria, Virginia office, but her tenure was cut short after just 63 days. A judge ruled that she was serving unlawfully, which meant the cases she was working on, including one against former FBI Director James Comey, were invalid. Halligan was driving back to Washington, DC, when she got a call from Attorney General Pam Bondi. The call didn't clear things up for her. Earlier that day, a judge had decided that the Justice Department had already used up the 120-day period for interim US attorneys. This meant Halligan's cases against Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James were no good. Another judge had already criticized Halligan's work in the Comey case. The judge said her arguments in front of the grand jury were so bad that it made people wonder if the case could even continue. This led to a lot of confusion among the prosecutors in her office. They didn't know if they should still list her as their boss on court papers. Halligan herself was waiting for instructions from the Justice Department. Even days later, Halligan's future as a top prosecutor was still up in the air. Justice Department officials were trying to figure out how to bring the cases against Comey and James back to life. Halligan was left out of these talks, but another official said she was part of them. The confusion was coming from the local prosecutors' office. Halligan's time as interim US attorney caused a lot of problems in the once-respected Alexandria office. Many people there lost trust in the office. Before Halligan, the office was known for handling important cases, especially those related to national security. But Trump's decision to put Halligan in charge changed all that. Within two weeks of Halligan taking over, the office's top national security prosecutor, Michael Ben'Ary, was fired. He left a note on his door saying that removing experienced officials undermined the country's ability to fight threats. Halligan also indicted Letitia James on mortgage fraud charges, which led to more firings. Elizabeth Yusi, who had written an internal memo saying there wasn't enough evidence to charge James, was fired along with her deputy, Kristin Bird. Halligan believed that attorneys in her office were leaking information to the media. She was also seen walking around with court security, which made some people think she was monitoring her staff. She denied these allegations, saying she had nothing to do with installing security cameras in the office. Halligan's work with the grand jury was also questioned. Two judges read the grand jury transcripts and found that she had made some big mistakes. She had told the grand jurors that Comey would need to testify at his trial and that the Justice Department might have more evidence later. The judges also questioned how she skipped presenting the final indictment to the full grand jury. The case against James was also dismissed, but the issues with Halligan's work hadn't been fully sorted out in court. Halligan had presented the indictment against James to a grand jury in Alexandria, even though the case was being handled in Norfolk. She had told department headquarters that she would bring the case against James, but she didn't tell them that she had decided to do it that day. Top officials found out about the indictment from news reports. Now, Justice Department officials are trying to figure out how to bring the cases against Comey and James back to life. Halligan's reputation has taken a big hit. In just two months, she went from being the primary prosecutor going after the president's political enemies to a headache for the Justice Department. Her name is still on court filings, but it's unclear if she will continue to show up at the office in Alexandria.