Letitia James Prosecutor Sends Unsolicited Texts To Reporter

Supply: Al Drago / Getty

So, it seems a humorous factor occurs when a sitting president faucets his private legal professional to function the interim U.S. legal professional for the Japanese District of Virginia, regardless of mentioned legal professional having no prosecutorial expertise by any means…

The fool president runs the chance of getting high-profile instances prosecuted by one other fool.

My GOD, y’all — Lindsey Halligan is an fool!

Based on Newsweek, Halligan — who has been positioned answerable for the bogus, MAGA revenge fantasy prosecution of New York Lawyer Basic Letitia James — is dealing with scrutiny over a collection of textual content messages exchanged with journalist Anna Bower of Lawfare, messages she initiated as a result of she didn’t like the way in which Bower was reporting James’ prosecution.

In an article just lately printed by Lawfare, Bower recalled that, on Oct. 11, she received a brand new message alert on Sign presupposed to be from Halligan.

“Anna, Lindsey Halligan right here,” the textual content learn. “You’re reporting issues which are merely not true. Thought you need to have a heads up.”

Bower wrote that she initially “assumed the trade was a hoax,” as a result of “whereas it’s not uncommon for attorneys to achieve out to me about my reporting or commentary, it’s extremely uncommon for a U.S. legal professional to take action relating to an ongoing prosecution—notably in a high-profile case through which her conduct is already the topic of immense public scrutiny.”

Nah, Bower is being good. It’s not simply “extremely uncommon,” it’s dumb as hell for a high prosecutor to go blabbing to a reporter with unsolicited discussions in regards to the ongoing prosecution of the legal professional common of the fourth most populated state within the U.S. Bower wrongly thought it was a hoax as a result of it needed to be a hoax, as a result of that is the type of prosecutorial snafu that occurs in sitcoms or in some Regulation & Order script that Dick Wolf thought was too far-fetched to make into an episode — however this sort of stupidity doesn’t occur in actual life.

However wait, Halligan will get dumber.

Based on Bower, Trump’s reverse-DEI rent despatched her dozens of messages through Sign.

SIGNAL!!!

Think about being so daft that, not solely did you, as a federal prosecutor, ship dozens of messages to a journalist — who requested you for none of these messages — about an ongoing, high-profile prosecution on behalf of the president, however you probably did so over the identical platform that Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth was, just some months in the past, dragged very publicly for exposing confidential warfare plans on.

However wait, HALLIGAN GETS EVEN DUMBER!!

After sending all of those dozens of textual content messages, one thing apparently lastly clicked within the massive bubble of air that’s Halligan’s head, and he or she lastly thought to introduce the phrases “off the report” into the dialog.

“By the way in which, all the pieces I ever despatched you is off report,” Halligan wrote, in line with a screenshot of the textual content thread. “You’re not a journalist, so it’s bizarre saying that, however simply letting .”

Bower, in fact, is a journalist, and the entire dialogue was solely “bizarre” as a result of a U.S. legal professional is out right here DMing reporters with an unprompted debate on the details of a case she isn’t speculated to be speaking to any civilian about, not to mention a journalist who has already reported issues she didn’t like.

“I’m sorry, however that’s not how this works,” Bower rightfully responded. “You don’t get to say that on reflection.”

“Sure, I do. Off the report,” the authorized skilled who doesn’t appear to have a deal with on how the legislation works shot again.

The 2 continued to travel about what the quite simple phrases “off the report” imply, however since Halligan didn’t have a leg to face on in that debate, she simply mainly ended up giving Bower a complete new story she wasn’t even looking for.

“She knew I used to be a journalist,” Bower wrote. “She approached me. She invited my questions. She even inspired me to cease chasing different reporters’ tales and focus by myself.”

Stephen Gillers, professor at NYU Faculty of Regulation, informed Newsweek that when attorneys remark publicly on a pending legal matter, “there’s all the time the chance that what they are saying may create a considerable probability of materially prejudicing a good trial.”

From Newsweek:

He pointed to skilled guidelines that forbid such statements — notably ABA Mannequin Rule 3.6, which limits lawyer speech that might have an effect on a continuing, and Rule 3.8, which bars prosecutors from making feedback which may heighten public condemnation of the accused.

“Seasoned prosecutors know this intuitively—or be taught it early within the job—and keep far-off from any danger of crossing these crimson traces,” Gillers mentioned. “Halligan’s outreach suggests she both by no means absorbed these classes or ignored them.”

Ahh, however we’re not speaking a few seasoned prosecutor; we’re speaking about one other considered one of Trump’s stooges who signed on to prosecute James for alleged financial institution fraud, changing at the very least two seasoned prosecutors who had been fired by the Trump administration for opposing the costs they believed had no advantage.

However once more, that is what occurs when the president fingers an vital place to a loyalist as an alternative of somebody with expertise.

Right here’s what the New York Instances reported about Halligan final month:

As considered one of his private attorneys, Ms. Halligan, a go-for-the-jugular loyalist who’s snug on tv, denounced the F.B.I. when brokers seized categorized paperwork in 2022 from Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump’s personal membership and residence in Florida. As a White Home particular assistant, she has taken the lead in scrutinizing displays on the Smithsonian Establishment for “improper ideology.”

Missing from her background altogether, nevertheless, is any expertise in working as a prosecutor or overseeing the advanced nationwide safety instances that usually go by way of the Japanese District of Virginia. Court docket data present that Ms. Halligan, who has largely spent her profession dealing with insurance coverage issues in Florida, has filed appearances in solely a handful of federal instances throughout her decade within the legislation — all of them as considered one of Mr. Trump’s private attorneys.

Oh, that’s proper — Halligan, who’s on no account a historian, is the exact same legal professional Trump consulted in his agenda to rid the Smithsonian of non-whitewashed Black historical past.

“I might say that improper ideology could be weaponizing historical past,” Halligan mentioned earlier this yr, in line with the Washington Submit. “We don’t must overemphasize the unfavourable to show folks that sure elements of our nation’s historical past might have been unhealthy.”

So, the white lady put answerable for deciding how a lot Black historical past is an excessive amount of Black historical past, regardless of having no expertise as a historian, has additionally been put answerable for what simply seems to be a bogus, vengeful prosecution towards an completed Black lady, regardless of having no expertise as a prosecutor.