Attorney General Pam Bondi blasted Democratic senators for sabotaging the Trump administration’s pick for U.S. attorney in Virginia by playing hardball with the blue slip tradition that gives home-state senators outsized say in federal prosecutor nominations.
Ms. Bondi on Wednesday said Lindsey Halligan was leaving her role as interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia because she was denied a confirmation hearing, presumably because Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, both Democrats, didn’t support her bid.
“Democratic Senators weaponized the blue slip process, making it impossible for Lindsey’s term as United States Attorney to continue after the expiration of her 120-day appointment,” Ms. Bondi said in a statement.
Blue slips are a century-old practice in which the Senate Judiciary Committee will ask home-state senators for their approval on a U.S. attorney or judicial nominee.
If the senators voice their disapproval or don’t return the blue slip, the nominee’s chances of getting confirmed are slim to none.
The Washington Times contacted Mr. Kaine and Mr. Warner for comment on Ms. Halligan’s departure.
A federal judge this month ruled that Ms. Halligan, a former personal attorney for President Trump, was holding the position unlawfully after a different judge said she was wrongfully given the job.
The Department of Justice fiercely defended Ms. Halligan’s lawful status when responding to the judge’s order, but ultimately relented since the president cannot appoint two consecutive interim U.S. attorneys.
Ms. Halligan took over the U.S. attorney position last fall after her predecessor did not want to prosecute Mr. Trump’s political foes in former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
After the latest Halligan move, Ms. Bondi said, “The circumstances that led to this outcome are deeply misguided. We are living in a time where a democratically elected President’s ability to staff key law enforcement positions faces serious obstacles. The Department of Justice will continue to seek review of decisions like this that hinder our ability to keep the American people safe.”
Ms. Bondi’s ire for the blue slip process matches Mr. Trump’s opinion. Last month, he called the blue slips a “scam” and asked for Senate Majority Leader John Thune to do away with them.
But Mr. Thune, South Dakota Republican, and Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, Iowa Republican, have defended the informal agreement that tries to achieve consensus between the executive and legislative branches.
Multiple states with two Democratic senators have thwarted U.S. attorney hopefuls put forward by the White House.
Ryan Ellison, the former acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico, said last week that a judge ruled his title was invalid. Mr. Ellison previously served as the interim U.S. attorney, but he resigned in August before reaching the 120-day limit for that role so Ms. Bondi could name him acting U.S. attorney.
The Jan. 14 ruling said Mr. Ellison cannot hold that position but was permitted to stay on board as the first assistant U.S. attorney — which essentially grants him the same authority as the federal district’s top prosecutor.
In Albany, New York, a federal judge ruled that U.S. Attorney John Sarcone III could no longer carry prosecutorial powers because his 120-day interim period had lapsed.
Unlike in New Mexico with Mr. Ellison, a judge ruled that the DOJ’s changing of Mr. Sarcone’s title to acting U.S. attorney won’t fly since “federal law does not permit such a workaround.”
Mr. Sarcone, a former campaign attorney for Mr. Trump, remains as the acting U.S. attorney on the Northern District of New York’s website.
Another Trump ally, Alina Habba, is vying for her old job as the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey after the Senate stalled in confirming her.
Ms. Bondi last week filed for the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear Ms. Habba’s case after it ruled in December that she overstayed her interim appointment.
Ms. Habba, who worked as a personal attorney for Mr. Trump before joining the government, said in the filing that she intends to return to her former post if the appeals court or Supreme Court sides with her.
Sigal Chattah and Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutors for Nevada and California’s Central District, have been reassigned as first assistant U.S. attorneys while the Senate remains idle on their confirmations.
Ms. Chattah, an ardent supporter of Mr. Trump, is appealing a prior disqualification ruling in Nevada’s courts.
And a court ruled that Mr. Essayli, who launched aggressive prosecutions against anti-ICE protesters in Los Angeles, said he will maintain his responsibilities as the chief federal prosecutor.
Others, such as Delaware’s former U.S. Attorney Julianne Murray, stepped down last month because she “cannot in good conscience allow my office to become a political football.” She also blasted Sens. Chris Coons and Lisa Blunt Rochester for “refusing to return a blue slip for political reasons, not performance reasons.”
The resistance to the president’s prosecutorial nominees has agitated Mr. Grassley, who last month said his committee has labored to get U.S. attorneys formally appointed.
“Despite the worst Democrat interference in history, the Senate is on pace to confirm as many of President Trump’s U.S. Attorneys this year as were confirmed in the first year of President Biden’s term,” Mr. Grassley said in a December statement. “Thirty-six reported out of the Judiciary Committee and 31 will be confirmed this year.”
Mr. Grassley did say the White House could help out by sharing background investigations and other paperwork for the nominees that have kept some of them idling in committee.
Jay Town, a U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama from 2017-20, said the legal bona fides of this batch of U.S. attorneys is as good as any other.
He suggested some federal judges are likely entertaining legal challenges to the prospective prosecutors because they don’t want to deal with the volume of cases that could be coming if they were to get confirmed.
Mr. Town said the president’s U.S. attorneys would focus heavily on bringing federal charges against felons caught with firearms.
State courts typically give light sentences to ex-cons convicted of carrying a gun, he said, but federal charges ensure significant time behind bars.
Mr. Town acknowledged it’s not the most glamorous of cases to pursue in court, but it’s the kind of meat-and-potatoes convictions that get trigger-pullers off the street — a key part of Mr. Trump’s approach to crime fighting.
“People voted for President Trump to lower crime, and that’s the function of the Justice Department,” Mr. Town said. “Anybody that’s obstructing that is just obstructing the Trump agenda.”
