Lindsey Halligan, Trump’s hand-picked prosecutor, reached out to a reporter about her coverage of New York Attorney General Letitia James’ indictment in what became a 33-hour exchange — and then insisted the conversation was “off the record.”
Last month, Trump tapped Halligan to serve as the interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia after her predecessor resigned and reportedly found insufficient evidence to criminally prosecute James. Overseen by Halligan, James was accused earlier this month of making false statements to a financial institution in connection with a loan for a property she purchased in 2020. She has denied any wrongdoing.
The New York Times then published an expose about James’ Norfolk, Virginia, home in question. Lawfare reporter Anna Bower tweeted screenshots of the article, which seemed to poke holes in the James indictment, and added her own commentary.
In an unusual move, Halligan reached out to Bower through the encrypted app Signal. Prosecutors rarely discuss ongoing cases. Still, the pair went back-and-forth and at the end, Halligan insisted everything was “off record.”
“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 prosecutor wrote, according to the exchange published by Lawfare.
“Lindsey Halligan is doing an outstanding job making Virginia safe again and won’t be distracted by lazy reporting from a blogger uninterested in the facts,” a Justice Department spokesperson told The Independent in a statement.
The exchange began after Bower tweeted segments of a Times article that seemed to contradict parts of the indictment against James. The indictment accuses James of misrepresenting the purpose of the home; James sought a loan to “use the property as a second residence,” but she instead used it as a “rental investment property, renting the property to a family,” prosecutors say.
The family member, the Times reported, testified to a separate grand jury in June that she had lived in the Norfolk home for years and hadn’t paid rent. James makes “regular visits” to the residence, the paper reported.
Bowers screenshotted these details, calling them “important exculpatory evidence” in tweets that caught Halligan’s attention. Halligan then reached out to Bower to tell her that her reporting was inaccurate.
“You are reporting things that are simply not true. Thought you should have a heads up,” Halligan wrote.
Bower then clarified that she was commenting on the Times reporting and asked if she wrote something inaccurate in one of her tweets.
“You're assuming exculpatory evidence without knowing what you're talking about. It's just bizarre to me. If you have any questions, before you report, feel free to reach out to me. But jumping to conclusions does your credibility no good,” Halligan replied.
Bower continued to ask what she could correct but needed to know specifics, noting she would be willing to retract her statements “but I can't do that if I don't know what the supposed error is.”
Halligan told her to read the indictment, quoting where it states James had received “thousands of dollars in rent.”
The reporter again asked for clarification: “Though the indictment says there were thousands of dollars of rent paid *at one point,* I don’t see that as inconsistent with her testimony as reported by the NY Times.”
The prosecutor replied: “You're biased. Your reporting isn't accurate. I'm the one handling the case and I'm telling you that. If you want to twist and torture the facts to fit your narrative, there's nothing I can do. Waste to even give you a heads up.”
The following day, Bower reached out with additional questions about the case and other related media reports.
That’s when Halligan demanded their exchange be “off record.”
“I'm sorry, but that's not how this works. You don't get to say that in retrospect,” Bower shot back.
Halligan pushed: “Yes I do. Off record.”
Bower then said if she had asked, they could have spoken off the record and inquired whether Halligan had any comment “for the story.”
“It's obvious the whole convo is off record. There's disappearing messages and it's on signal,” Halligan replied. What is your story? You never even told me about a story.”
The 36-year-old prosecutor has also overseen the indictment of another one of President Donald Trump’s perceived political enemies: former FBI director James Comey. The indictment accuses him of making false statements and obstructing justice during congressional testimony he gave in September 2020. He has pleaded not guilty.
This week, Comey’s attorneys filed to dismiss the indictment against him. In part, they argued Halligan was “invalidly appointed” to serve in her post. She had no prosecutorial experience before being appointed to the role.
Halligan’s predecessor had been appointed to serve as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, who, by law, can only serve 120 days. He exceeded the 120-day limit before resigning; if that 120-day limit expires, the district court is required to appoint a U.S. attorney to fill the vacancy, according to the law. Pam Bondi appointed her, but she “lacked authority,” the attorneys argued.
Last month, Trump posted on Truth Social, in what was reportedly intended to be a private message to Bondi, complaining that “nothing is being done” against James, Comey, and California Democratic Senator Adam Schiff, who are “all guilty as hell.”
Editor's Note: This article was updated October 21 at 1:45pm EST to include a response from the Justice Department.
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