Trump's novice beauty queen prosecutor caught in torturous 33-hour texting feud with journalist
Donald Trump's favorite beauty queen lawyer has become embroiled in scandal after engaging in a 33-hour texting feud with a journalist — and then demanding that the exchange remain 'off the record.'
Lindsey Halligan, appointed to lead the the Justice Department's Eastern District of Virginia, reached out to Lawfare senior editor Anna Bower earlier this month regarding social media posts the journalist wrote about the DOJ's prosecution of New York Attorney General Letitia James.
The DOJ attorney accused Bower of misrepresenting her prosecution of James by 'assuming exculpatory evidence without knowing what you're talking about' and 'jumping to conclusions.'
The two continued messaging each other via the encrypted Signal phone app as Halligan asserted Bower wanted 'to twist and torture the facts to fit your narrative.' Bower repeatedly asked Halligan to specify the inaccuracies of her reporting but did not receive an answer.
Halligan then tried to claim that everything she told Bower was retroactively off the record and unusable for publication.
'By the way — everything I ever sent you is off record,' Halligan wrote to Bower. Halligan ensured that her messages with Bower deleted after eight hours. 'You're not a journalist so it's weird saying that but just letting you know.'
'I'm sorry, but that's not how this works,' Bower responded. 'You don't get to say that in retrospect.'
Halligan fired back: 'Yes, I do. Off record.' The entire text conversation occurred over a period of 33 hours.
Lindsey Halligan has found herself wrapped up in a bizarre text message scandal with a journalist over her prosecution of Letitia James
The former beauty queen was recently appointed to lead the Eastern District of Virginia
Lawfare senior editor Anna Bower informed Halligan their conversation was not off-the-record
In journalism, 'off-the-record' agreements must be established before a conversation begins — not declared retroactively after a source realizes they have said too much.
'I am really sorry. I would have been happy to speak with you on an off the record basis had you asked,' Bower added. 'But you didn't ask, and I still haven't agreed to speak on that basis. Do you have any further comment for the story?'
According to screenshots posted by Bower, Halligan then claimed it was 'obvious' their conversation was off-the-record because it was 'on signal.'
'What is your story? You never told me about a story,' Halligan protested. Regardless, Bower published the story along with the entire chat history.
Halligan's bizarre text exchange with the journalist comes as her office charges the New York attorney general of mortgage fraud.
James' indictment claims she signed a 'Second Home Rider, which required James, as the sole borrower, to occupy and use the property as her secondary residence, and prohibits its use as a timesharing or other shared ownership agreement or agreement that requires her to rent the property or give any other person control over the occupancy or use of the property.
In making the 'misrepresentation,' the prosecutors allege James received a avoided a 0.815 percent higher mortgage rate, resulting in approximately $17,837 in savings over the course of the loan and was able to obtain a seller credit of approximately $3,288.
James now faces penalties including up to 30 years in prison per count, up to a $1 million fine on each count and forfeiture of her properties.
The attorney general has denied any wrongdoing, and accused Halligan's prosecution of being a 'desperate weaponization of our justice system.'
Halligan is prosecuting New York Attorney General Letitia James for mortgage fraud
Halligan is seen as a Trump loyalist within the Department of Justice
Following Bower's conversation with Halligan, the Justice Department again claimed in a statement that the text exchange was off-the-record.
A spokesman said: 'Lindsay [sic] Halligan was attempting to point you to facts, not gossip, but when clarifying that she would adhere to the rule of the law and not disclose Grand Jury information, you threaten to leak an entire conversation. Good luck ever getting anyone to talk to you when you publish their texts.'
Halligan went completely rogue earlier this month white indicting James, ditching any coordination with the attorney general or her team, according to reports.
Halligan did tell at least one Justice Department official that she was planning on moving forward with charging James, but ended up presenting the case alone to a grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia.
