Lindsey Halligan, President Donald Trump’s handpicked U.S. attorney in one of the country’s most important federal prosecutor shops, was effectively set up to fail last Thursday, sources said, when in her first ever presentation before a grand jury, she convinced the panel to indict former FBI Director James Comey on two of three counts.
The Justice Department and the seasoned lawyers at the Eastern District of Virginia US Attorney’s Office, known for its aggressive government leak and national security prosecutions, had collectively turned their nose up at the case, with many believing the evidence wasn’t strong enough to support criminal charges.
DOJ headquarters declined to provide lawyers to assist Halligan, and FBI agents and lawyers working to prepare her were denied their request for a para-legal professional to assist in the presentation, according to two people familiar with the matter.
“Lindsey was set up to fail,” one of the sources familiar with the discussions said. “She was the lamb sent to slaughter.”
But Halligan — a former private lawyer for Trump who arrived earlier in the week to take the helm in Alexandria, Virginia-based district after the president fired his previous nominee — defied the odds.
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