‘You’re not a journalist so it’s weird saying that but just letting you know,’ Halligan wrote
Lindsey Halligan, Trump’s hand-picked prosecutor, reached out to a reporter about her coverage of New York Attorney General Letitia James’ indictment in what became a 33-hour exchange — and then insisted the conversation was “off the record.”
Last month, Trump tapped Halligan to serve as the interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia after her predecessor resigned and reportedly found insufficient evidence to criminally prosecute James. Overseen by Halligan, James was accused earlier this month of making false statements to a financial institution in connection with a loan for a property she purchased in 2020. She has denied any wrongdoing.
The New York Times then published an expose about James’ Norfolk, Virginia, home in question. Lawfare reporter Anna Bower tweeted screenshots of the article, which seemed to poke holes in the James indictment, and added her own commentary.
In an unusual move, Halligan reached out to Bower through the encrypted app Signal. Prosecutors rarely discuss ongoing cases. Still, the pair went back-and-forth and at the end, Halligan insisted everything was “off record.”
