Donald Trump-appointed interim U.S. lawyer Lindsey Halligan is going through scrutiny after her non-public messages with a reporter have surfaced.
Over the weekend, Halligan apparently initiated a dialog with Lawfare journalist Anna Bower on the encrypted Sign app about Trump’s case towards New York Legal professional Common Letitia James after Bower posted on X a few New York Instances article on grand jury testimony within the case.
“You’re biased. Your reporting isn’t accurate. I’m the one handling the case and I’m telling you that,” one of many Sign messages learn. “If you want to twist and torture the facts to fit your narrative, there’s nothing I can do. Waste to even give you a heads up.”
Bower mentioned that initially, she questioned whether or not somebody posing as Halligan had despatched her the messages. Later, she confirmed that it was certainly the interim U.S. lawyer who was speaking along with her.
“I was really surprised, and honestly, I was very curious what she had to say,” Bower informed CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Monday.
“It’s very much not often that you see a sitting United States attorney, who, unsolicited, reaches out to a reporter to talk about something that relates to an ongoing prosecution that relates to grand jury testimony,” she mentioned.
Al Drago by way of Getty Pictures
“I did not have a preexisting relationship with Lindsey Halligan in terms of speaking to her as a reporter,” Bower defined to Collins. “We have met one time, many years previous, while I was reporting on Trump’s criminal investigations and criminal cases,” and Halligan was on Trump’s protection crew.
However deep into their Sign chat, Halligan informed Bower that their dialog was meant to be “off the record,” that means she didn’t need the reporter to publish or quote from their trade.
Nonetheless, Bower mentioned she by no means agreed to these phrases. People who find themselves educated to work together with the press know {that a} request to maintain sure data off the document ought to be made earlier than that data is shared with a reporter, and that the reporter should agree.
“Lindsey Halligan never once suggested that we were off the record. She had reached out to me,” Bower mentioned.
The journalist finally shared her surprising trade with Halligan on Lawfare, in addition to an indignant assertion from the Justice Division, which confirmed that the messages from Halligan have been genuine.
“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,” Justice Division spokesperson Natalie Baldassarre wrote. “Good luck getting anyone to talk to you when you publish their texts.”
Collins agreed with Bower that the dialog with the U.S. lawyer wasn’t “off the record,” and Bower reiterated that she didn’t “threaten” Halligan, however merely “reached out for comment” to the Justice Division based mostly on journalistic ethics.
