A federal judge appointed by former President Trump has raised concerns about Lindsey Halligan, a prosecutor from the Justice Department. In a notable move, US District Judge David Novak, based in Richmond, has questioned Halligan’s continued identification as the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. This comes in the wake of a prior ruling by another judge in November, which deemed her appointment to the role as unlawful. The demand for clarification is connected to a carjacking and attempted bank robbery case where Halligan is serving as the prosecutor.

Lindsey Halligan, who previously gained attention as a former beauty queen and for her defense of Donald Trump in the classified documents case, has been instructed to justify her actions. Judge Novak issued a directive requiring Halligan to provide a written explanation for why she continues to present herself as the US Attorney, despite the contradictory ruling by Judge Cameron Currie. Furthermore, she must argue why her identification should not be removed from the indictment in the ongoing case and clarify why this does not constitute a misleading statement.

Judge Novak hinted that Halligan might face possible disciplinary measures and has mandated her to personally sign her response. Interestingly, this order was initiated by Judge Novak himself, without any prompting from the defense attorneys involved in the case. Following Judge Currie’s ruling in November, which found Halligan’s appointment unconstitutional, criminal cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James were dismissed. The Justice Department has been contacted by the Daily Mail for further comments on this unfolding situation.

Currie wrote that all criminal indictments ‘flowing from Ms. Halligan’s defective appointment, including securing and signing Mr. Comey’s indictment, were unlawful exercises of executive power.’ The judge issued another ruling in James’ criminal prosecution by claiming Halligan had exercised power she ‘did not lawfully possess.’ Novak, who was appointed by Trump in 2019, noted that Currie’s ruling against Halligan’s appointed had been appealed but that the order had not been paused by the courts. Therefore, according to Novak, the prior ruling remains the ‘binding precedent of the district and is not subject to being ignored.’

Halligan was placed into the role as US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia after her predecessor refused to bring forward criminal charges against Trump’s perceived political enemies. Former US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Erik Siebert, declined to prosecute James for mortgage fraud over what he said was a lack of evidence. In September, Trump posted a brutal attack Truth Social message demanding Attorney General Pam Bondi replace Siebert with Halligan, who served as a member of the White House counsel at the time. He described Siebert as a ‘Democrat Endorsed ‘Republican” and said Halligan will ‘be Fair, Smart, and will provide, desperately needed, JUSTICE FOR ALL!’ Although Currie’s November ruling did sink Halligan’s prosecution against Comey and James, it did not remove her from office.