As I said yesterday, more on that in another column, and here we go! Why does it seem that the women chosen as AGs are the idiots? Notice that all the men were smart and said, “can’t (won’t) touch that.” How many have we heard about resigning rather than chasing a fool’s errand? At least 6 that I can think of, and that’s without searching. Google would pull up more; we can be sure. In the hours since this column was begun, there have been updates that necessitated a more or less fresh start. From CNN:
Lindsey Halligan (Hooligan? Ha.), President Donald Trump’s handpicked interim US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, left her position at the Justice Department Tuesday, marking an end to her turbulent tenure bringing cases against the president’s political enemies. News of Halligan’s departure came hours after a federal judge issued a withering ruling calling out Halligan’s decision to use unusually sharp language earlier this month as she pushed back on the judge’s questioning of her authority, saying the “unnecessary rhetoric” had “a level of vitriol more appropriate for a cable news talk show.”
Ouch! Being reprimanded by a judge is not high on one’s bucket list. My goodness gracious! Vitriol? Unprofessional, and that’s one strike right there. If you are a lawyer, you are expected to be professional when speaking to a judge. You may not always be professional in court, but responding to a judge? You don’t want to act all upset, hurt, and nasty when the judge asks you questions. They’re questions, not accusations, or at least, not yet.
The assessment from US District Judge David Novak, who was appointed by Trump in 2019, was the latest dramatic development in a months-long legal saga surrounding Halligan, an insurance lawyer turned prosecutor whose tenure as interim US attorney appeared to be cut short after a judge determined in November that she was unlawfully serving in the role. That decision should have meant that Halligan no longer represented herself as the US attorney leading the office, according to judges in the district.
Sounds pretty straightforward, or so we would think. Apparently, Lindsey didn’t think so, because she kept going on with the position as the AG. Unlawfully appointed means no, she can’t. It doesn’t seem that there’s any way to misinterpret that. You don’t need to know legalese to understand those two words. Did she think that because she was chosen by Trump, she got an automatic pass? She should have asked Alina Habba how well that worked.
“Ms. Halligan has continued to identify herself as the United States Attorney for this District in pleadings, including on the indictment and other pleadings in this case,” Novak wrote in an 18-page ruling in a criminal case brought by Halligan’s office. “I elected to give Ms. Halligan an opportunity to explain her position.
“Ms. Halligan’s response, in which she was joined by both the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General, contains a level of vitriol more appropriate for a cable news talk show and falls far beneath the level of advocacy expected from litigants in this Court, particularly the Department of Justice,” the judge wrote. “The Court will not engage in a similar tit-for-tat.”
WHAM. That’s it. Not only was she out as AG, but she was also specifically reprimanded for her lack of etiquette in responding to his request. She could have responded professionally. She did not. She was allowed to keep her law license, and she should be happy that he was generous in that regard. It could have been much worse. Let’s hope she learned the lesson. What *is* it with Trump’s female AGs?
Friends, I know everyone begs you for money. I promise, among all those asking for spare change, we are the smallest and the hardest working. We’re a group of old, disabled people, except for one writer in his mid-50s. The rest of us are in our sixties and seventies, and this is a labor of love. All we’re asking for is the chance to keep telling the truth about Trump and help ensure democracy survives. If you can help, please do. Thank you. Ursula
” She was allowed to keep her law license”
So far, that is.
We’ll see what the relevant bar associations, (i.e. ALL the other professional lawyers), have to say about that.
Yea, I’m hoping she gets roasted by her peers, even though we can’t really consider her to be an actual lawyer *rolls eyes*
I seriously doubt she will have learned any lesson. The impression I get is that these folks are not trying to learn anything, except how to please tRump.
You got i. They’ve learned the big lesson: how to kiss Trump’s lardass and win fat paychecks and undeserved promotions. Nothing else matters, certainly nothing resembling professional competence.