Washington, D.C.,September 21(HS): President Donald Trump announced Saturday that he plans to nominate Lindsey Halligan, a former member of his defense team, to lead the influential U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, just a day after the previous officeholder resigned under political pressure.

Halligan, who represented Trump during the classified documents investigation and now serves in the White House staff secretary’s office, has no prosecutorial experience. Her legal career has primarily been in Florida, handling insurance claims before joining Trump’s legal team.

The move follows the abrupt resignation of Erik Siebert, who sources say stepped down after resisting pressure from Trump officials to file criminal charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James. Siebert, whom Trump himself had nominated earlier this year, reportedly faced mounting criticism from the President after investigators failed to turn up evidence against James despite Trump’s insistence that she was “very guilty of something.”

In a post on his social media platform, Trump praised Halligan as “Fair, Smart, and Tough,” saying she would deliver “Justice for All” and warning against what he called “Democrat-Endorsed Republicans.” Halligan recently spearheaded an internal White House effort aimed at countering what the administration described as “radical ideology” within Smithsonian museums.

The announcement underscored rising tensions between Trump’s Justice Department and federal prosecutors, as the President pushes aggressively for legal action against his political rivals. Hours after criticizing Attorney General Pam Bondi over the pace of such investigations, Trump posted again to affirm she was doing a “GREAT job.”

Meanwhile, staff at the Virginia office were informed Saturday that Maggie Cleary, a Justice Department official in the Criminal Division, would serve as acting U.S. attorney until Halligan’s nomination is processed.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar