Chuck DarwinA judge has ordered the Donald Trump-appointed lawyer who led failed prosecutions of two of his political opponents to
explain why she is still representing herself as US attorney for the eastern district of Virginia -- after another judge ruled she was in the position unlawfully.
In an order filed in the district’s Richmond division on Tuesday, #Lindsey #Halligan was given seven days to explain why she had engaged in “professional misconduct” by continuing to sign indictments.
Halligan -- Trump’s former personal lawyer -- was installed by the president in September to lead the prosecutions of two political figures with whom he had frequently clashed: #James #Comey, the former director of the FBI, and #Letitia #James, attorney general for the state of New York.
⭐️Federal judge Cameron McGowan Currie threw out both cases in November, writing in a scathing opinion that Halligan’s installation was invalid, and
“all actions flowing from Ms Halligan’s defective appointment” were
“unlawful exercises of executive power and must be set aside”.
✅The three-page order signed Tuesday by district court judge David Novak, in an unrelated case, is similarly unequivocal.
“While the US has appealed Judge Currie’s opinion and order, no stay has been issued in conjunction with that appeal,” he wrote.
“Consequently, it remains the binding precedent in this district and is not subject to being ignored.”
Richard Penner