Unbelievable
Acting U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan initiated a Signal chat two weekends ago with Lawfare reporter Anna Bower in which the newly appointed federal prosecutor tiptoed to the verge of revealing grand jury information in the Letitia James case.
After Bower started reporting out the Signal exchange, including by calling Main Justice, Halligan sent Bower a final message late yesterday, more than a week after starting the chat: “By the way – everything I ever sent you is off record. You’re not a journalist so it’s weird saying that but just letting you know.”
The entire episode is madness. Halligan – who has no prior experience as a prosecutor –comes off as even less sophisticated than expected. She also seems peevish, self-consciousness, and in utterly over her head, in every possible way. You can read the entire exchange here.
Ironically, Halligan’s prosecution of former FBI Director Jim Comey is, in part, about Comey’s alleged contacts with the media, in his case through intermediaries. No intermediary here! Just Halligan herself recklessly bumping up against criminal case particulars with a reporter.
Bower recounted the whole crazy episode last evening:
The Retribution: Jim Comey Edition
Former FBI Director Jim Comey filed the first two major challenges to his politicized indictment. Comey is trying to get the indictment dismissed with prejudice (meaning it cannot be filed by the government) on two primary grounds:
- that Lindsey Halligan wasn’t properly appointed as U.S. attorney. The filing happened to come the same day that the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals seemed quite skeptical of the appointment of Alina Habba as U.S. attorney for New Jersey after similarly questionable machinations designed to bypass Senate confirmation and local federal judges.
- that the prosecution is vindictive and selective. Comey filed a 60-page exhibit containing a exhaustive list of Trump’s rhetorical attacks on him
Both of Comey’s motions were well-written, tightly structured, and compelling. But more importantly, taken together they mount the first wholesale challenge to President Trump’s use of the Justice Department to conduct reprisals by prosecution. Some of the arguments are designed to appeal to conservative justices on the Supreme Court, and others are designed to appeal to the rule of law and long-standing DOJ traditions and norms. The effect, undoubtedly intended, is to make a Comey victory here have implications beyond this particular political prosecution.
Meanwhile, in a bit of gamesmanship, prosecutors fired a shot across the bow of Comey lead attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, suggesting he might need to be disqualified from the case because Comey allegedly used him “to improperly disclose classified information.” Comey fired right back against what it called the government’s effort to “defame” Fitzgerald, calling the allegation “provably false.” The judge in the case quickly denied prosecutors’ effort to expedite the briefing on this sideshow.
The Retribution: Fani Willis Edition
The Trump DOJ is scrutinizing a trip that Atlanta District Attorney Fani Willis, the disqualified Trump prosecutor, made to the Bahamas in November, according to a subpoena obtained by the NYT.
It’s not clear if the trip is a focus of the investigation or if Willis herself is a target. The investigation is being led by Atlanta U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg.
The Retribution: IWWG Edition
Officials from across the Trump administration have been meeting since May under the auspices of what is called the Interagency Weaponization Working Group to coordinate the president’s retribution against perceived political foes, Reuters reports. The group draws from the White House, Office of the DNI, CIA, DOJ, DoD, FBI, DHS, IRS, and FCC, according to the report:
The existence of the interagency group indicates the administration’s push to deploy government power against Trump’s perceived foes is broader and more systematic than previously reported. Interagency working groups in government typically forge administration policies, share information and agree on joint actions.
Trump DOJ official Ed Martin, who is the U.S. pardon attorney and leads the Justice Dpeartment’s own weaponization working group, is “an important player in the interagency group, a source told Reuters.
Only the Best People
A Trump-pardoned Jan. 6 rioter has been charged with threatening to kill House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) ahead of his a Monday speech to the Economic Club of New York.
GOP Senators Abandon Ingrassia Nom
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) sounded the death knell for the nomination of Paul Ingrassia as U.S. special counsel after Politico published texts in which Ingrassia admitted he had “a Nazi streak,” said the MLK holiday should be ““tossed into the seventh circle of hell,” and used an Italian slur for Black people. “He’s not gonna pass,” said Thune, who was one of at least four GOP senators to come out against the nomination.
National Guard Cases Moving Swiftly
A judge on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has already moved to hear the Oregon National Guard case en banc after a three-judge panel of the court ruled in favor of the Trump administration on Monday
In a powerful dissent, Judge Susan Graber essentially begged for patience from the public as she implored the full appeals court to act: “I urge my colleagues on this court to act swiftly to vacate the majority’s order before the illegal deployment of troops under false pretenses can occur. Above all, I ask those who are watching this case unfold to retain faith in our judicial system for just a little longer.”
A Symbol of Lawlessness
Despite assurances that construction of President Trump’s unauthorized ballroom would not touch the White House, work crews began demolishing portions of the East Wing Monday. The ballroom is being constructed between the White House and Treasury building, where employees with a bird’s-eye view were told not to take or share photos of the project.
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