A few months ago, some rogue prosecutors in the Southern District of New York decided that they could turn it into the Sovereign District of New York. These bureaucrats did not understand that they worked for the president, the attorney general, and the deputy attorney general. The kerfuffle arose out of their refusal to drop the suspect indictment against New York City Mayor Eric Adams after Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, now a federal judge on the 3rd Circuit, had ordered them to do so.
These megalomaniacal bureaucrats wrote letters of refusal and resignation, including one from Acting United States Attorney Danielle Sassoon. The Adams episode should have taught federal prosecutors a crystal clear lesson: The president is in charge.
This lesson apparently has not filtered down to some of the prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia. Like the Southern District of New York, this district — directly across the Potomac River from our nation’s capital and home to some of the wealthiest zip codes in America — is a prime assignment for federal prosecutors.
Former FBI Director James Comey is now facing accountability for his years of misconduct. A grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia (part of the Eastern District), indicted him on two counts: obstruction and false statements to Congress based on his September 2020 testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee about the FBI’s “Crossfire Hurricane” lawfare investigation against President Trump. The grand jury rejected a third count of perjury against Comey, showing that grand jurors were not rubber stamps.
This indictment sparked outrage among so-called career officials at the Justice Department. Many voiced their fury through media leaks, primarily using NBC’s controversial reporter Ken Dilanian as their conduit to the public. The indictment occurred thanks to the stellar leadership of Acting U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan.
Halligan has shown in her brief time in charge that she will not tolerate any guff. According to reports, prosecutors in the Eastern District do not want to try Comey, so Halligan is recruiting prosecutors from other districts for the task. Officials are also leaking to the media regarding another case: that of New York Attorney General Letitia James. James campaigned on waging lawfare against President Trump, and she kept her promise.
She brought a civil claim based on a novel theory of fraud in a case concerning the obtaining of loans from sophisticated banks. The banks never claimed to be scam victims, and all received timely payments with interest. Still, James obtained a nearly half-billion-dollar civil judgment against President Trump. A New York appeals court recently threw out the money damages and squelched James’ fantasies of seizing President Trump’s buildings, including her top prize — the Trump Building at 40 Wall Street.
Now, James finds herself in legal jeopardy. She allegedly listed a secondary residence in Virginia as her primary residence. Under New York law, James must reside in New York as part of her job. She also allegedly listed a lower number of units on a building she owns. Both alleged misstatements occurred in order for her to receive a lower mortgage rate; in other words, James allegedly committed mortgage fraud. According to media leaks, a career prosecutor in the Eastern District indicated that she will decline to prosecute James regardless of Halligan’s view of the case. It is unclear if this career prosecutor was the one who leaked to the media.
Halligan must fire all leakers. There is no place for such traitors in government, much less in a prosecutor’s office. Halligan already has fired two top former Eastern District prosecutors: Maya Song and Michael Ben’Ary. Ben’Ary penned a sanctimonious op-ed bemoaning his firing, but recently revealed text messages allegedly from Ben’Ary plainly show that Halligan’s decision was correct. The texts say Ben’Ary wanted to “strangle that bitch,” referring to Halligan. They also indicated hopes Halligan and President Trump would die. Finally, the texts also ask a current prosecutor to monitor goings-on in the Eastern District, ensuring that it will remain independent from influence by President Trump, who has expressed concerns over the failure to prosecute James. (Ben’Ary’s attorney disputes the authenticity of the texts.)
The Adams lesson bears repeating. Prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia, like those in the Southern District of New York, are not independent. The post-Watergate myth of the so-called independent Justice Department is constitutional nonsense. Article II of the Constitution vests the executive power in a president — currently President Trump. Attorney General Pam Bondi reports to President Trump. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche reports to Bondi. These self-proclaimed independent prosecutors are accountable to the elected president and his Senate-confirmed subordinates, though the prosecutors are seemingly blind to that reality.
The Eastern District of Virginia is a leak-infested cesspool. If Ben’Ary is anything resembling a representation of that office, the Eastern District is in dire trouble. The administration should bring in fresh prosecutors to remove the stench of politicization that has infested the Eastern District. Only then can justice have a chance of prevailing.
Mike Davis is the founder and president of the Article III Project.
