Lindsey Halligan | |
|---|---|
 Halligan in 2025 | |
| InterimUnited States Attorney for theEastern District of Virginia | |
Unlawfully appointed[a] | |
| In office September 20, 2025 – January 20, 2026 | |
| President | Donald Trump |
| Preceded by | Maggie Cleary |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Lindsey Robyn Michelle Halligan (1989-07-21)July 21, 1989 (age 36) Portland, Maine, U.S. |
| Education | |
Lindsey Robyn Michelle Halligan (born July 21, 1989) is an American attorney who claimed to serve as the interimUnited States attorney for theEastern District of Virginia from September 2025 to January 2026, but her appointment was ruled unlawful by a federal judge in November 2025.[1] She served as thespecial assistant to the president and theWhite House senior associate staff secretary from January to September 2025.
Halligan graduated fromRegis University and theUniversity of Miami School of Law. She began working as an insurance lawyer and became a partner at Cole, Scott & Kissane in 2018. In 2022, then-former presidentDonald Trump named Halligan to his legal team. She was involved in litigation involving theFBI's search of Mar-a-Lago. Halligan continued working with Trump on several other legal efforts.
In January 2025, Trump named Halligan as the White House senior associate staff secretary. She advocated for action against exhibits atSmithsonian Institution museums that she saw as disparaging the United States. In September, Trump forced the interim United States attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia,Erik Siebert, from his position over his handling of his office's investigations into Trump opponents. He named Halligan, who had no prosecutorial experience, as the interim U.S. attorney and nominated her for the position. In November, a judge ruled that Halligan's appointment had exceeded the temporary window established in theFederal Vacancies Reform Act. TheDepartment of Justice appealed the ruling the following month. In January 2026, as judges sought to replace her, Halligan left the Department of Justice.
Lindsey Robyn Michelle Halligan was born on July 21, 1989, inPortland, Maine.[2] Halligan is the daughter ofaudiologists. Her sister, Gavin, is a family law attorney who unsuccessfully ran as aRepublican in the2016 election for theColorado House of Representatives'sfourth district. Halligan was raised inBroomfield, Colorado, and attendedHoly Family High School, where she played softball and basketball. She graduated fromRegis University with a bachelor's degree in politics and broadcast journalism and from theUniversity of Miami School of Law with aJuris Doctor in 2013. At theUniversity of Miami, Halligan interned for theInnocence Project and theMiami-Dade County public defender's office.[3] She worked for Deco Models, a Miami modeling agency, in 2012.[4] She competed in theMiss Colorado USA pageant in 2009 and 2010, reaching the semifinals and earning third runner-up, respectively.[3]
After graduating from law school, Halligan worked for Cole, Scott & Kissane,[3] an insurance law firm specializing in residential and commercial properties.[5] She became apartner in 2018.[3] At Cole, Scott & Kissane, Halligan represented insurance companies against lawsuits filed by homeowners and corporate plaintiffs.[6]
In November 2021, Halligan met former presidentDonald Trump atTrump International Golf Club, according to a statement she provided toThe Washington Post.[3] Trump named her to his legal team several months later[3] amid theFederal Bureau of Investigation'sinvestigation into his handling of government documents.[7] Halligan toldPolitico that she was present atMar-a-Lago for the Federal Bureau of Investigation'ssearch of the property.[8] She was involved inTrump v. United States, a lawsuit requesting aspecial master to review the material seized by the bureau in the search.[9] Halligan remained with Trump as two lawyers who worked with her resigned.[10]
Halligan's work for Trump included adefamation lawsuit againstCNN that was dismissed,[11] an effort to defend hispresidential eligibility amid legal contentions with theFourteenth Amendment,[12] and an attempt to dissuade theDepartment of Justice fromindicting Trump over his handling of classified documents.[13] Ahead of the2024 presidential election, anIranian hacking campaign targeted Trump advisors. TheIslamic Revolutionary Guard Corps allegedly obtained emails from Halligan, among others, and threatened to release them in July 2025.[14] Halligan reviewed draftexecutive orders, briefing materials, and press releases to identify "inconsistencies and potential legal risks".[15]
After Trump'ssecond inauguration, Halligan was appointed as theWhite House senior associate staff secretary,[12] andspecial assistant to the president.[6][16] She advocated for Trump to take action against exhibits atSmithsonian Institution museums that she saw as disparaging the United States.[3] In March, Trump signed an executive order to review exhibits at the Smithsonian's museums, naming Halligan to lead the effort.[17] She sought the removal ofAmy Sherald's painting "Trans Forming Liberty", depicting a transgenderAfrican American woman as an approximation of theStatue of Liberty.[18]
In September 2025,Erik Siebert, the U.S. attorney for theEastern District of Virginia, resigned after refusing to bring criminal cases against eitherLetitia James, theattorney general of New York, orJames Comey, the formerdirector of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.[19] After Siebert's dismissal,Boris Epshteyn, a Trump aide, approached Halligan about taking the position.[20] On September 20, Trump announced that he would nominate Halligan—who had no prosecutorial experience—to succeed Siebert.[21] According toThe New York Times, Attorney GeneralPam Bondi and deputy attorney generalTodd Blanche questioned her viability for the role given her lack of experience.[20] Two days later, Halligan was sworn in as the interim U.S. attorney,[22] though a court later ruled that Bondi lacked the authority to appoint U.S. attorneys.[1][23]
Halligan intended to ask a grand jury to indict Comey, despite an internal memorandum arguing that she should not bring charges against him.[16] On September 25, with only days remaining before the five-yearstatute of limitations would have expired, Halligan signed Comey's indictment.[20] In October, Halliganindicted James for allegedmortgage fraud.[24] On October 20, Comey's attorneys filed a motion for dismissal, alleging that Halligan's interim appointment was carried out in violation of federal law.[25][26]
As an interim U.S. attorney, Halligan emphasized a strict zero-tolerance policy on the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information.[27] In October 2025,Lawfare reporter Anna Bower published aSignal exchange, in which Halligan raised complaints about the media's coverage and characterization of the James indictment.[28] Days later, James filed a request with the judge in charge of her case, seeking to bar federal prosecutors from speaking with the media about evidence in the case, arguing that this was needed in order to ensure a fair trial.[29][30] At the end of that month, Attorney General Bondi retroactively appointed Halligan as a "special attorney" to dispel doubt about the legitimacy of Halligan's initial appointment as a federal prosecutor.[31]
In November, a federal judge,Cameron McGowan Currie, heard Comey's and James's challenges to the legality of Halligan's appointment.[32] Days later, a magistrate judge, William E. Fitzpatrick, found that Halligan may have committed misconduct by falsely stating that theFifth Amendment precluded Comey from refusing to testify at his trial. Fitzpatrick added that Halligan had told jurors that the Department of Justice had additional evidence that would be revealed at trial and noted the discrepancy between the indictment presented and the indictment approved by the grand jury.[33] Halligan later told judgeMichael S. Nachmanoff that the foreperson in the grand jury proceedings for the Comey case had approved a second version of the indictment that had not been seen by the grand jury.[34]
On November 24, Currie ruled that Halligan's appointment by Bondi was unlawful, as theFederal Vacancies Reform Act's temporary window had elapsed. The ruling resulted in Halligan's disqualification as U.S. attorney and the dismissal of the charges against Comey and James. The Trump administration stated its intention to appeal the ruling that day.[1] Halligan continued serving as late as December, leading to criticism from other judges, who noted Currie's ruling.[35] The Department of Justice appealed the ruling on December 19.[36] In January 2026, judgeDavid J. Novak ordered Halligan to explain why she had claimed to be the interim U.S. attorney despite Currie's ruling.[37] On January 20,M. Hannah Lauck, the district's chief judge, issued separate orders escalating the dispute between Halligan and the judiciary. Lauck, who noted in her order that Halligan's appointment would have expired that day in the absence of Currie's ruling, directed the court's clerk to seek candidates for Halligan's position in local newspapers, setting a deadline for February. Hours later, Novak threatened disciplinary action for prosecutors who referred to Halligan as a U.S. attorney, describing the dispute as a "charade".[38] According toThe New York Times, prosecutors in the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia were instructed to refer to Halligan as a special attorney instead. That day, Bondi announced Halligan had left the position.[39] Days later,NBC News reported that Halligan had left the Department of Justice entirely.[40]
