1 of 3 | New York Attorney General Letitia James is the target of federal indictment by Trump’s hand-picket prosecutor Lindsey Halligan, who criticized reporting of the case. File Photo by Derek French/UPI | License Photo
Lindsey Halligan, the prosecutor overseeing fraud charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James, spent 33 hours criticizing a legal journalist’s coverage — and then insisted the exchange was off the record.
Journalist Anna Bower described her unusual interaction with Halligan in a post Monday on national security news website Lawfare. The exchange, which was later confirmed by a Department of Justice spokesperson, provides a glimpse into the criticized prosecution of one of President Donald Trump’s high-profile adversaries.
A federal grand jury in U.S.District Court of Eastern Virginia indicted James earlier this month for allegedly making false statements to a financial institution. The charges center on a Norfolk, Va., property that she bought in 2023. Prosecutors charge that James improperly indicated on financial documents that she would use the property as a primary home to get better mortgage rates, but was using it as a rental investment.
Bower wrote that she attracted Halligan’s attention with an Oct. 11 post on X about a story from The New York Times that undermined Halligan’s case. The Times reported that James purchased the property for her grandniece, who told a different grand jury that she lived in the house for years without paying rent. James also regularly visited the property to see her grandniece and other family.
“This is important exculpatory evidence bc the indictment accuses James of seeking a ‘second home’ mortgage when in reality she intended to use it as an ‘investment’ home by renting it,” Bower wrote in another post on X.
But Halligan, who was hand-picked by Trump to lead the case, reached out to Bower telling her in a Signal message, “You are reporting things that are simply not true.”
“What am I getting wrong?” responded Bower.
“You’re assuming exculpatory evidence without knowing what you’re talking about,” Halligan wrote. “It’s just bizarre to me. If you have any questions, before you report, feel free to reach out to me. But jumping to conclusions does your credibility no good.”
Bower continued pressing Halligan to point out specific inaccuracies, asking if there was something wrong in the Times’ reporting.
“Yes they did but you went with it!” Halligan responded. “Without even fact checking anything!!!!”
Bower wrote that although the indictment of James states she was paid thousands of dollars in rent at one point it was not inconsistent with the testimony from her grandniece.
Finally, Halligan wrote: “You’re biased. Your reporting isn’t accurate. I’m the one handling the case and I’m telling you that. If you want to twist and torture the facts to fit your narrative, there’s nothing I can do. Waste to even give you a heads up.”
After Bower reached out to the Department of Justice for comment, Halligan wrote back insisting the conversation had been “off the record” even though Bower never agreed. The Times defended its reporting in a statement to Lawfare.
James successfully brought a civil fraud case against Trump in 2024. An appeals court recently reduced Trump’s fines. James has dismissed the charges against her as “baseless” and called them an act of political retribution.
