DOJ gave Trump’s handpicked US attorney little support to indict Comey. She did it anyway

By Evan Perez, Kristen Holmes, CNN

(CNN) — Lindsey Halligan, President Donald Trump’s handpicked U.S. attorney in one of the country’s most important federal prosecutor shops, was effectively set up to fail last Thursday, sources said, when in her first ever presentation before a grand jury, she convinced the panel to indict former FBI Director James Comey on two of three counts.

The Justice Department and the seasoned lawyers at the Eastern District of Virginia US Attorney’s Office, known for its aggressive government leak and national security prosecutions, had collectively turned their nose up at the case, with many believing the evidence wasn’t strong enough to support criminal charges.

DOJ headquarters declined to provide lawyers to assist Halligan, and FBI agents and lawyers working to prepare her were denied their request for a para-legal professional to assist in the presentation, according to two people familiar with the matter.

“Lindsey was set up to fail,” one of the sources familiar with the discussions said. “She was the lamb sent to slaughter.”

But Halligan — a former private lawyer for Trump who arrived earlier in the week to take the helm in Alexandria, Virginia-based district after the president fired his previous nominee — defied the odds.

If the effort had failed, it could have struck a major blow to Trump in his ongoing efforts to seek the prosecution of his political enemies over the objections of career prosecutors and even some political appointees.

“President Trump stands by Attorney General Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Blanche, and U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan,” White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told CNN in a statement. “The President appreciates everyone’s efforts to restore accountability in our justice system.”

“Lindsey Halligan is fully supported by the Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General, and the entire team at Main Justice,” said DOJ spokesman Chad Gilmartin.

Halligan declined to comment.

When Trump ousted Halligan’s predecessor, Erik Siebert, he made it clear he wanted Comey and other political enemies prosecuted. That made the case even more toxic for career prosecutors who had been wrangling for months over the strength of evidence with FBI investigators.

Last Tuesday, Halligan began a crash course to prepare. Justice officials told her that the deputy attorney general’s office didn’t have lawyers to help her, and that it was against federal rules of criminal procedure for one of the attorneys from Justice headquarters to be in the grand jury room, one source familiar with the discussions said.

An administration official pushed back on the sources’ contention that Halligan did not have help from the Justice headquarters. Officials argued that Halligan was in touch personally with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche multiple times, including visiting the Department of Justice for meetings during the week leading up to her presentation, even if she lacked support from lower level attorneys with more experience in the grand jury room in Alexandria. The source added that Halligan and Blanche spoke after the indictment was issued.

Blanche and Attorney General Pam Bondi had earlier expressed qualms about the case, citing concerns raised in a memo produced by prosecutors who had spent months on the case, according to people familiar with the matter.

Instead, Halligan spent hours preparing with a group that included FBI attorneys and the agents who had led the investigation, the sources said.

Halligan participated in a number of “practice runs” and spent hours going through the exhibits in preparation, the sources said.

A former Florida insurance lawyer, Halligan has only ever appeared officially in federal court on three cases — all lawsuits where she represented Trump, all in the Southern District of Florida, in 2022 and 2023. (One was against CNN, which was dismissed.)

Halligan, who was alone during the presentation, operated the exhibits herself, sources told CNN.

The grand jury rejected one count, for allegedly making a false statement, of the three Halligan presented. But a majority – 14 of 23 – voted in favor of two counts, another a false statement charge and one for obstructing a congressional proceeding, court documents show.

At a public hearing to hand up the indictment, Halligan ran into some trouble with Magistrate Judge Lindsey Vaala, as captured by the court reporter’s transcript. The judge was puzzled about Halligan’s submitting two different set of documents, one with two approved counts and one showing the three counts.

“So this has never happened before,” Vaala said. “There seems to be discrepancy.”

Halligan told the judge she had only reviewed and signed one document with the two counts approved by jurors. “I did not see the other one. I don’t know where that came from,” she said.

The judge, still puzzled, said: “Okay. It has your signature on it.”

Halligan responded: “Okay. Well…”

Getting a grand jury — a group of citizens picked to approve certain investigative steps and sign off on criminal cases — to hand up an indictment is generally not considered difficult. Some in the legal profession joke that a prosecutor could convince such a panel to indict a ham sandwich. That’s in part because it’s a one-sided process with only the government’s case presented.

But in the second Trump term, some grand juries have revolted against perceptions that the Justice Department is being heavy handed in charging cases, declining to hand up indictments. This includes the case of a man who allegedly threw a sub-style sandwich at a federal agent amid tensions over Trump’s takeover of the Washington, DC, police. The alleged sandwich thrower was later charged with a misdemeanor in a proceeding that doesn’t require a grand jury.

But that Halligan succeeded in getting two counts handed up surprised Justice officials, who nonetheless immediately sought to celebrate.

Shortly after Halligan emerged from the courtroom Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a statement on X, declaring: “No one is above the law.”

In an administration where being quick to post on social media is prized, the move irritated Halligan and FBI officials who felt that top Justice officials were seeming to take credit for an indictment some believed they had sought to doom, according to sources briefed on the matter.

A Justice spokesman also issued a statement after the indictment saying “there was no hesitation on behalf of the attorney general to pursue an indictment.”

Challenging road ahead

Halligan still faces steep hurdles in prosecuting Comey, who will appear in court for the first time next week.

Perjury cases involving Congress are notoriously difficult, in part because lawmakers often are sloppy in asking questions of witnesses. Trump’s repeated comments on the case and his firing of Halligan’s predecessor could help defense lawyers argue the prosecution is politically motivated.

If the case makes it to trial, it’s still an open question who will lead the prosecution in court.

Asked about who would try the case, Blanche, in an interview Monday on Newsmax, said, “We’re still working about on that… I mean Lindsey Halligan is a great lawyer … And so what she ultimately decides to do with the actual prosecution of the case is something that’s it’s really up to her and her judgment, and so we’ll see how that plays out over the next couple weeks.”

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.