Move over, progressive playbook -- Lindsey Halligan, a 36-year-old legal dynamo and former beauty queen, has just been tapped by Donald Trump to shake up the Eastern District of Virginia as U.S. Attorney, and she’s already making waves with a potential indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, as the Daily Mail reports.
Just four days after her appointment, with the ousting of predecessor Erik Siebert, Halligan’s office is evaluating charges against Comey for allegedly lying to Congress during his 2020 testimony on the Russia-Trump 2016 campaign probe, while also overseeing a separate investigation into New York Attorney General Letitia James over mortgage fraud accusations.
Born to parents in healthcare, Halligan grew up in Broomfield, Colorado, dominating basketball and softball courts at a private Catholic school.
She studied politics and broadcast journalism at Regis University in Denver, a Jesuit institution, before earning her law degree from the University of Miami.
Halligan cut her teeth in the city’s public defender’s office, later tackling insurance cases as a partner in a private firm, proving she’s no stranger to high-stakes battles.
Her competitive spirit shone early, reaching the semi-finals of Miss Colorado USA in 2009 and placing fourth in 2010—pageants tied to Trump’s co-ownership of the Miss Universe organization at the time.
Halligan’s path crossed with Trump’s in late 2021 at an event at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, where, still in a courtroom suit, she caught his eye and soon joined his legal team.
By Aug. 8, 2022, when the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago over classified documents, Halligan was the first attorney on the scene, later blasting the agency on Fox News for what she called an “appalling display” of overreach.
Trump was impressed by her sharp TV appearances and her handling of the subsequent case led by special counsel Jack Smith, which was ultimately dropped, cementing her as a trusted ally.
By the time of the Republican National Convention, Halligan was seated near Trump, and after moving to Washington as a special assistant, she played a key role in an executive order titled Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History, aimed at purging what many conservatives see as ideological bias from Smithsonian museums.
Halligan herself told the Washington Post, “We should be able to take our kids, our students, through the Smithsonian and feel proud when we leave.” That’s a refreshing push against the constant drumbeat of historical guilt peddled by the left.
Now, sworn in on Monday as U.S. Attorney, Halligan faces a ticking clock to potentially indict Comey before the statute of limitations expires next Tuesday -- a move Trump has publicly demanded on Truth Social, calling her a “tough, smart, and loyal attorney.”
Trump’s frustration with inaction against Comey, a longtime target since his firing as FBI director, was clear when he posted that “nothing is being done” and urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to install Halligan to “get things moving.” If that’s not a signal to ditch the bureaucratic stall tactics, what is?
Meanwhile, critics like former federal prosecutor Randall Eliason warn of danger, saying, “President Trump is making no secret of his desire to use the criminal justice system to seek retribution.”
But isn’t it about time accountability applied to everyone, not just those outside the Beltway elite?
