The battle between Donald Trump and James Comey—one of the defining feuds of the Trump era—may be reaching its most dramatic chapter yet.
Federal prosecutors are weighing whether the former FBI Director will face charges for allegedly lying to Congress in 2020 testimony related to the Russia investigation. And at the center of this potential prosecution is Lindsey Halligan, a 36-year-old attorney who has quickly risen from relative obscurity to one of the president’s most trusted legal warriors.
Halligan’s trajectory reads almost like a political novel. A former athlete and beauty pageant competitor from Colorado, she carved out a path through law school, public defense, and private practice before catching Trump’s eye in 2021.
Her first big break came not in a courtroom, but on the lawn of Mar-a-Lago: she was the first of Trump’s legal team to arrive during the FBI’s raid on August 8, 2022. Her sharp, pointed criticism of the Bureau’s tactics earned her national attention—and the president’s admiration. By 2024, she was seated close to him at the Republican National Convention, a sign of her growing influence.
Now she holds one of the most sensitive posts in the country: U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, a seat Trump personally maneuvered to fill after ousting her predecessor Erik Siebert.
Within days of being sworn in, Halligan is staring down a statute of limitations deadline on possible charges against Comey. The move is not subtle—it’s a direct challenge to one of Trump’s most infamous rivals, the man he fired as FBI director and has railed against ever since.
Critics see danger in the appointment. Former prosecutors have warned that Halligan’s lack of prosecutorial experience could leave her vulnerable to political pressure. Others frame it as proof that Trump is turning the justice system into a battlefield for retribution.
Yet her defenders, including the White House, argue she brings discipline, sharp instincts, and loyalty—qualities Trump prizes in the trenches of political and legal combat.
Halligan herself has leaned into that role. From pushing for the removal of “improper ideology” in Smithsonian exhibits to serving as a senior policy aide in Trump’s second administration, she has embraced a mix of legal precision and cultural combativeness. In her own words, the lessons she carried from sports, pageants, and the courtroom prepared her for moments exactly like this.
