In a move reminiscent of James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James has raised questions about the legitimacy of interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, criticizing her as a “violator-in-chief” of professional rules. This criticism came after Halligan reportedly discussed a bank fraud case with a journalist via the encrypted app Signal shortly after the indictment was announced.

James’ legal team, led by attorneys Abbe Lowell and Andrew Bosse, submitted a strongly worded filing that scrutinized an oversight by Halligan, which quickly attracted national attention and criticism. The incident involved Halligan, who previously served as a defense attorney for former President Donald Trump and is relatively new to prosecution, contacting Lawfare reporter Anna Bower to criticize her social media commentary on a New York Times article about a case against Trump’s longtime competitor.

On October 9, James was indicted for bank fraud following Halligan’s presentation to a grand jury. The indictment accused James of falsifying bank documents to secure a more favorable loan for a property in Norfolk, Virginia, by misrepresenting it as a rental investment rather than a secondary residence, ultimately gaining nearly $19,000 improperly.

Just two days after the indictment, Halligan reached out to Bower on Signal without prior arrangement, discussing confidential grand jury matters. She assumed the conversation was off the record due to the app’s disappearing message feature, set for eight hours. However, Bower, who did not consent to off-the-record terms, subsequently published the entire exchange. This revelation reportedly caused considerable discontent within Trump’s circle, highlighting the misstep.

Two days later, Halligan reached out to Bower via Signal, unsolicited, and touched on secret grand jury proceedings while evidently operating under the assumption that the exchange that Bower did not initiate was entirely off the record because the encrypted app messages were set to disappear after eight hours. Bower, who explained she never agreed to an off-the-record exchange, went ahead and published the texts in full, an incident that reportedly did not go over well inside Trump world.

Now James’ lawyers have pounced, asking U.S. District Judge Jamar Walker, a Joe Biden appointee, to ensure a fair trial by “stem[ming] the tide of inflammatory extrajudicial comments” and ordering the Trump administration’s “counsel and agents in this case to obey all relevant federal laws and regulations regarding proper records retention, preserve all communications with any media person, journalist, or outlet, and take all reasonable steps to prevent the deletion or destruction of any records or communications having anything to do with the investigation and prosecution of this case.”

“Proactive intervention by this Court is necessary to protect Attorney General James’ constitutional rights and the integrity of this Court’s procedures,” the filing continued.

James accused Halligan of running “afoul” of Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the Code of Federal Regulations, Eastern District of Virginia local rules, “various rules of ethical and professional responsibility” — including the American Bar Association’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct — and the DOJ’s Justice Manual.

Halligan’s “extrajudicial statements and prejudicial disclosures” to Bower, all while setting Signal messages to disappear — in a “likely violation of the federal records laws and rules around using unapproved electronic messaging accounts” — must be stopped, the filing said.

Adding that Halligan’s dearth of prosecutorial experience is no excuse, James’ lawyers slammed the “purported” interim U.S. attorney for making out-of-court statements that had a “substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing an adjudicative proceeding[.]”

“As the prosecutor who is ‘handling the case’ against Attorney General James and purporting to be the U.S. Attorney, Ms. Halligan is supposed to be the standard-bearer of the professional responsibility rules rather than the District’s violator-in-chief,” the filing said.

James separately informed the court that she will file a motion to dismiss the indictment based on Halligan’s allegedly unlawful appointment, a position shared by ex-FBI director Comey.

Noting that, as in the Comey case, the motion will need to be handled by an “out-of-district judge” within the 4th Circuit, James suggested that their motions to dismiss be “consolidated.”

Senior U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie, a Bill Clinton appointee in South Carolina, has been designated to handle the Comey motion.