Trump Picks New Virginia Prosecutor After Bondi Rebuke

President Trump speaks to members of the media on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One in Washington, DC, on Sept. 21.
Photographer: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Bloomberg

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By Ben Penn

September 21, 2025 at 2:18 PM UTC

Updated on

September 21, 2025 at 6:56 PM UTC

President Donald Trump said he plans to nominate Lindsey Halligan—a White House aide spearheading the ideological review of the Smithsonian Institution—to be US attorney in Eastern Virginia, replacing a prosecutor who was forced out for not bringing fraud charges against New York’s attorney general.

Trump announced the move in a Truth Social post Saturday that suggested he’s in disagreement with Attorney General Pam Bondi over the choice. Earlier in the day, Bondi had installed conservative lawyer Maggie Cleary as acting US attorney in the crucial office in the Washington suburbs.