🚨Trump’s TOP Lawyer FINALLY SURRENDERS in OPEN COURT!!

What this episode is about

Lindsay Halligan, Donald Trump's appointed U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, has been disqualified from her position due to her unlawful appointment following the removal of an interim attorney. Despite her attempts to secure indictments against James Comey and Letitia James, Halligan's lack of federal prosecutorial experience and misconduct led to multiple grand juries rejecting her cases, ultimately resulting in her exit from the role.

Key takeaways

• Lindsay Halligan: A handpicked lawyer whose qualifications included insurance, not indictments. A legal plot twist gone wrong.
• Indicting a ham sandwich? Halligan struggled even with that. Federal grand juries know a flimsy case when they see one.
• A Trump-appointed judge didn't play favorites—correcting Halligan's self-appointed title might score legal points for integrity.
• When your term as U.S. Attorney expires before it begins, it’s a real-life example of ‘no vacancy’ signs in law.
• In the game of legal chess, Halligan checked herself out after trying to play knight without knowing the rules.

Who speaks in this episode?

• Ben Meiselas (Host) · 10 min speaking
• Harry Litman (Guest) · 7 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 3:00: Lindsay Halligan, Eric Seabert
2. 3:00 – 6:00: Lindsay Halligan
3. 6:00 – 9:00: Lindsay Halligan, Talking Feds
4. 15:00 – 17:25: Talking Feds

Notable quotes from "🚨Trump’s TOP Lawyer FINALLY SURRENDERS in OPEN COURT!!"

• So, you all know the story, right? We've covered a lot on the Midas Touch Network. Trump wants Eric Seabert, the interim United States at Senator for the Eastern District of…

  about Eric Seabert · at 0:36

• There was already an interim. You're unlawful. Go away. Hallagan didn't go away. She became a squatter. She would show up and pretend to be the United States Attorney for the…

  about Lindsay Halligan · at 1:51

• Crocodile tears. Nobody other than Bondi is shedding one single tear for Halagan tonight. Absolutely. Everybody, make sure you subscribe to Harry Litman's YouTube channel. It's…

  about Talking Feds · at 16:43

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Lindsay Halligan — Person · Primary subject (referenced DOJ appointee) · 5 mentions · first at 0:00
  Central figure in the episode’s discussion about an allegedly unlawful interim U.S. Attorney appointment, grand jury conduct, and court sanctions threats for misrepresenting her status.
• Eric Seabert — Person · Referenced DOJ official (prior interim U.S. Attorney) · 1 mention · first at 0:39
  Described as the initial interim U.S. Attorney whose removal is used to argue Halligan’s appointment was unlawful under interim appointment rules.

Media & podcasts

• Talking Feds — Media · Referenced media · 2 mentions · first at 7:29
  Mentioned as the platform where Harry Litman shares his insights, including a YouTube channel, Substack, and podcast.

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 Bye-bye, Lindsay. So, Lindsay Halligan is officially gone. She was always gone from the beginning. She was Donald Trump's handpicked United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. She was unlawfully appointed because there was previously an interim United States attorney who Donald Trump appointed, a guy by the name of Eric Sebert. you're only allowed to pick one interim United States attorney and that person either has to be confirmed by the Senate or uh their term could be extended by the federal judges, but if you get rid of that interim, you can't replace the person with another interim.

0:36 So, you all know the story, right? We've covered a lot on the Midas Touch Network. Trump wants Eric Seabert, the interim United States at Senator for the Eastern District of Virginia, to go after James Comey and Leticia James. He says there's no evidence to do it. Trump pushes Eric Seabird out as the interim. Trump picks a new interim, Lindseay Halligan, who's never been a federal prosecutor in her life. She was Trump's personal attorney. Before that, she did like insurance work, zero federal experience. And then she rushes into the grand jury. She gets indictments against Comey and Leticia James. There seems to be all of this misconduct in terms of how she got those indictments. But she gets disqualified because you all know the rule. You're only allowed to have one interim. She was appointed after the other interim left. So all of those cases fell apart. Then at least as it relates to Leticia James Hallagan tried

1:24 two more times before different grand juries to get indictments. Two separate grand juries in different cities in Virginia or counties were like, "Nope, we're not doing this." Like rejecting the indictment. They say you can indict a ham sandwich. Not if you're Lindsay Halligan. You can't put the ham together apparently. And then Lindseay Halligan, even though a federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia by the name of Judge Curry disqualified Hallagan and said, "You can't be the interim because there was already an interim. You're unlawful. Go away." Hallagan didn't go away. She became a squatter. She would show up and pretend to be the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Not even the interim. she would say that she was the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia after again engaging in this misconduct and after being disqualified.

2:13 So she kept on signing her names to different cases that were unrelated to Comey and Leticia James, you know, in cases that are just, you know, domestic violence cases, fraud cases, trafficking cases, assault cases, you name it. And then the case would went before a judge, a Trumpapp appointed judge named Judge Novak from the Eastern District of Virginia, Trump appointed in 2019. And Judge Novak does an initial order, what's called an order to show cause and says, "Hey, Halagan, why are you claiming you the the Eastern District United States Attorney? You are disqualified. Are you making misrepresentations before the court and lying about your status as a United States Attorney?

2:56 That's a violation of bar rules, ethical violations, local rules of the court, federal rules. Like you're engaging in fraud by saying you have a position that you do not have. It'd be like, I don't know, a lawyer showing up in front worse, but it'd be like a lawyer showing up in front of a federal judge saying you work for a law firm and you don't work for the law firm. We're saying you're a lawyer and you're not really a lawyer. She's not the United States attorney. The judge says, "Stop calling yourself that and explain to me why you're calling yourself that." So, Halagan then responds with a brief that was co-signed, if you will, or also signed by Pam Bondi, the attorney general, and Todd Blanch, the deputy attorney general. And what does Halagan do? She again calls herself the United States attorney in the brief. And then all three of them attack the judge. They go after the Trump appointed judge.

3:45 Judge, you don't know what you're talking about. You're politicized. You're this, you're that, you're that. And then you remember Harry Litman and I were like, uh, this judge is gonna like write a pretty harsh order back. Like they're just they're they're calling the judge out for calling out Haligan's fraud. Like what are we even doing here? And then the judge issued an order on Tuesday. And the judge said, I'm striking your name from the pleading. In other words, I'm removing you, calling yourself the United States attorney, and you do it one more time. I'm going to make sure that you lose your legal license. He writes in the order, he says that you or any other person who signs a pleading that represents that you're the United States attorney, I will immediately refer for disciplinary proceedings and I will basically recommend all of you get get disciplined or disbarred. I'm not taking this

4:38 lightly. So a Trump appointed judge, do I need to say it a hundred times? a Trumpapp appointed judge was the one who said this and then the Trump lawyers were saying ah this is a weaponized judge or he's a politicized judge who doesn't like us. So then after realizing they were cornered that that hallagan was in trouble that Bondi was in trouble that Todd Blanch was in trouble. Look at what these people do. They then put out a press release saying that Lindseay Halligan's 120day term as the interim United States attorney has expired. How convenient.

5:15 They say her 120 days is up, so she has to leave anyway. I just want to be very clear about this. The 120day issue doesn't apply to her. It would only apply if you were actually allowed to be the interim. So Eric Sebert, who was the interim United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, those 120 days apply to him and he was able to be extended by the federal judges until he can be confirmed by the Senate. But because he was fired and pushed out by Trump when Lindsey Haligan became the interim, she was not allowed to become the interim. So she didn't get an extra 120 days. Those were for Seabbert alone.

5:56 I know it could be a little confusing, but she was not allowed to even be in the position. So now, in order to save face after the Trump appointed judge issued this scathing ruling, they're now saying, "Oh, her 120 days expired." And then they go on to talk about this. This is what Bondi, this is a a release by Bondi. During her 120day tenure as the interim United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Lindseay Halligan served with the utmost distinction and an unwavering commitment to the rule of law by prosecuting the most serious offenders, including violent criminal illegal aliens, murderers, and child abusers. Lindsay worked tirelessly to protect more than 6 million residents of Eastern District of Virginia. But the Democratic senators weaponized the blue slip process, making it impossible for Lindsay's term as the United States attorney to continue following the expiration of her 120day

6:55 appointment despite multiple unnecessary legal obstacles placed in her path. Lindsay stepped forward at a critical juncture for our nation and fulfilled her responsibilities with courage and resolve. Then it goes on to say, "The circumstances that led to this outcome are deeply misguided. We are living in a time when 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. I want to bring in Harry Litman from the Talking Feds YouTube channel, Talking Feds Substack, and Talking Feds podcast. Harry, I know that was a really long intro. I don't know.

7:38 There was so much nuance there that I needed to set it up because you're a former federal prosecutor. You were the United States attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania. You were a top federal prosecutor in Maine justice. And when I read a press release like this, it's just at every level, the thing's a lie. It's just all all the all these people do is spew nonsense. And frankly, Bondi for putting out lies like that and misrepresenting court orders should be dismared in my opinion. What do you make? So, that's where I was going to start. Literally, I won't I won't take uh the mightest mighty through it, but I think you there's a strong argument committee that literally every sentence in this press release is a lie. Starting with her unwavering commitment to the rule of law by going in as a first act, indicting Comey, totally butchering it, but but beyond that, doing a pretextual

8:30 prosecution because maximum leader says so. every single thing. And and then more generally, Ben, you're so right. They're trying. This whole thing reminds me like of a third grade bully going around throwing sand on everyone. And finally the group of otherwise polite people get together and just beat the crap out of them because you know they have been crosswise with the Senate and crosswise with the Dems and crosswise with the court and incredibly as you say belligerent the ruling from Curry you are not the US attorney you are on calline and and their position literally was in this in this screed that Halagan filed well but the judge didn't say you may not call yourself, you know, a completely ridiculous kind of distinction. And by the way, here's what the judge you the the ferocity of his order um you set out. But uh as to the response from Halagan, and this is, you know, she doesn't know anything, but

9:33 this is just the Trump MO that she joins. Ms. Halgan's response in which she was joined by both the attorney general and the deputy attorney general aside on the aside to get an attorney general or deputy attorney general in the normal reign of things to sign something it's got to be so important and so perfect etc. Uh, and this is what they signed. Quote, from the judge, contains a level of vitriol more appropriate for a cable news talk show and falls far beneath the level of advocacy expected from litigants in this court, particularly the Department of Justice. I won't go into a similar tit for tat, says the judge. I'll just say you are screwed. You you've completely pushed on us, pushed on the court. the court was beginning to actually interview uh candidates for her job and then man oh man what was going to happen. They would find someone appoint someone and every single judge on the

10:33 court when when Hallagan signed a name or someone showed up they would have completely made made it impossible for them. Back to the sour grapes uh chishness of the the press release. Not a word. Not a word about not following the law all the way through. Indeed, if anything, Bondie has a couple days, a couple nods to the law, 120day tenure. Uh, and um she uh was and is unable to be confirmed. What they're trying to say, they want to blame it all on the blue slip process. Now, that the one thing it isn't is some new invention by Democrats to try to place obstacles. is the oldest kind of senatorial prerogative in the book and it's one of the very few things that Trump couldn't make the Senate genulect on. He went directly to Grassly the head of judiciary committee said get rid of these things. the this is happening also in New Jersey and the uh you know complete I I understand it's a it's a

11:39 bit of a senatorial privilege and anti-democratic but that is the way it goes and they were not going to part with it. So she makes it seem somehow as just the the failure to completely surrender one of the few remaining prerogatives of a senator was some like big conspiracy against Trump. And we are living in a time that would be the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries uh when the democratically elected president's ability to staff key law enforcement positions faces serious obstacles or you might call those the separation of powers. and the congressional scheme that says we get to have a role here.

12:21 You just can't stick someone in there, not to mention somebody flagrantly incompetent who violates the Constitution and have us not pass on her. So, they had actually sent her nomination up to the Senate. She had filled out the questionnaire. It was DOA. You and I talked about it at the time. Forget about it. and possibly they had in mind a broadside to the whole blue slip process. But this just I'll finish again with this the third grade aspect of it. The um incredible impoliteness, churishness, sour grapes aspect and the pre pretense that it's not in fact the law that prevailed and said you may not keep violating the law as you were doing again and again and again. But somehow, you know, political dirty tricks as if their whole um stance with Halligan hasn't been based on sheer raw politics. And I don't mean just politics about who you choose, but politics about what you do. The biggest

13:25 lie in the whole thing might be this unwavering commitment to the rule of law. The woman handpicked to do the rank injustice of a reprisal prosecution against Trump's enemies. one of the two or three incandescently corrupt things he has done in Trump 2.0 and that's the uh heroine who they who Pam Bondi uh I won't start in on her in this particular discussion uh say has been this great victim and justice has lost out. You know, it's funny in a way, except if they'd been able to, they they brazened it out as long as they could and they were looking at getting their brains beat in in every case, they finally had to say, "Uncle."

14:12 I guess here's the thing. Even from a just Mchavelian standpoint, like Haligan was bad at being bad.

14:22 It's so true. Like like she didn't execute it well. Like if she want I'm not I don't have to tell her now because she already screwed it up. But if you wanted to execute the weaponized prosecution, all she had to do was bring in any other prosecutor in the universe with her in the grand jury in the grand jury room. And even if she got disqualified, if somebody else was on the completing the indictment, even if she gets disqualified, the indictment would live on. And then if she didn't screw up the instructions to the grand jury, and in the case of Comey at least, she didn't even present the indictment to the full grand jury. Like she brought in the wrong the FBI agent who received tainted attorney client information.

15:08 Like in a very short period of time, she did everything wrong. even doing the like there was a way to do the bad thing and at least get it to a trial where a jury would have clearly found against the DOJ, but you could have at least brought it to a trial. So, you know, to me there's I go back to this too, Harry. There's a competence aspect of it also which we should be thankful of that all these people are just horrible lawyers and horrible uh tacticians and they they don't know because I guess who else could you find to do to do these things but people who are just really bad and so they but you know they she didn't even execute the bad well.

15:47 Well that's right. I mean but there's a lot to be said for that Ben cuz they stuck her in there with no experience. She'd have played the part that they told her to play. And the part they told her to play and they play and plays and Bondi plays is the part of a flaming jerk. If you're going to pretend to be the US attorney, you can pretend to be respectful to judges as real US attorneys are invariably. You can pretend to tell your prosecutors to conform to the rule of law as real US attorneys do invariably, but no, no, no, no. She took page one from the Trump script book and just was like savage and nasty to everyone around Congress and the courts alike. And man oh man, nobody except Pam Bondi. And I think being from Florida, you can rightly call them crocodile tears. Nobody other than Bondi is shedding one single tear for Halagan tonight. Absolutely. Everybody, make sure you subscribe to Harry Litman's

16:53 YouTube channel. It's called the Talking Feds YouTube channel. So, search Talking Feds, start there. And if you want to subscribe to his Substack and podcast, it's also called Talking Feds. Thanks, Harry.

17:05 Hey, thanks, man. Love this video. Support independent media and unlock exclusive content. Add free videos and custom emojis by becoming a paid member of our YouTube channel today. You can also gift memberships to others. Let's keep growing together.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "🚨Trump’s TOP Lawyer FINALLY SURRENDERS in OPEN COURT!!"?

Ben Meiselas (Host), Harry Litman (Guest).

What is "🚨Trump’s TOP Lawyer FINALLY SURRENDERS in OPEN COURT!!" about?

Lindsay Halligan, Donald Trump's appointed U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, has been disqualified from her position due to her unlawful appointment following the removal of an interim attorney. Despite her attempts to secure indictments against James Comey and Letitia James, Halligan's lack of federal prosecutorial experience and misconduct led to multiple grand juries…

What is mentioned in this MeidasTouch episode?

3 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Lindsay Halligan, Talking Feds, Eric Seabert. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "🚨Trump’s TOP Lawyer FINALLY SURRENDERS in OPEN COURT!!"?

The episode runs 17 min; the transcript is about 2,937 words in 23 timestamped sections.

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