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President Donald Trump said Saturday he would nominate senior White House aide Lindsey Halligan to serve as the lead federal prosecutor for the Virginia office, which was embroiled in turmoil when its U.S. attorney resigned on Friday.
In a social media post shortly after leaving the White House for an event in Mount Vernon, Trump wrote that he was nominating Halligan as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, writing that she "will be fair, smart, and deliver much-needed justice for all."
The announcement came as Trump pressured Attorney General Pam Bondi to move forward with prosecuting cases against some of his political opponents, part of a vow of revenge that has been a theme of his return to the White House.
The appointment would put one of the president's legal defenders in charge of an office in turmoil due to political pressure from administration officials to criminally indict New York Attorney General Letitia James, a longtime Trump foe, in a mortgage fraud investigation.
Erik Siebert, who had been the office's lead prosecutor, resigned amid a push by Trump administration officials to file charges in the investigation, which stems from allegations of discrepancies in documents related to James' Brooklyn home and a home in Virginia.
The Justice Department has spent months investigating and there has been no indication that prosecutors have managed to uncover any level of incriminating evidence necessary to secure an indictment. James' lawyers have vehemently denied any charges and characterized the investigation as an act of political vendetta.
Halligan has been part of Trump's legal orbit for the past several years, including serving as one of his lawyers in the early days of the FBI's investigation into Trump's holdings of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. She has recently been involved in a White House effort to remove what the administration considers "inappropriate ideology" from Smithsonian holdings.
Earlier Saturday, Trump posted on social media what appeared to be an open letter to Bond, saying he had "reviewed over 30 statements and posts" that he characterized as critical of his administration for its lack of action on investigations, including the one into James' dealings.
Trump's message mentioned former FBI Director James Comey, Trump's longtime adversary, whom he fired during his first term amid the investigation into Russian election interference.
The FBI acknowledged this summer that it was investigating Comey, who was interviewed by the Secret Service after an Instagram post that Republicans insisted was a call for violence against Trump. Comey has said he did not intend the post as a threat and removed it after realizing how it was being interpreted.
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