Prosecutor in James Comey Case Could Lose Law License—Ex-Watergate Attorney

[Thiệu Ngô]

Former Watergate attorney Nick Akerman told Newsweek moments before former FBI director James Comey’s arraignment on Wednesday, that the Department of Justice’s prosecuting attorney in the case, Lindsey Halligan, is “playing a pretty dangerous game here in terms of her law license.”

By Mandy Taheri

The attorney told Newsweek it’s possible that the bar will initiate an investigation into Halligan over the matter, which could result in her disbarment.

Why It Matters

Comey served as FBI director from 2013 to 2017, overseeing notable investigations including the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Trump has publicly expressed his disdain for Comey over the years, and has pledged to prosecute him.

Halligan, who is pushing forward Trump’s legal request, is a former insurance lawyer and White House aide with no prosecutorial background. She is the newly installed U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, one of the most consequential federal prosecutorial offices in the country. In September, she quickly secured an indictment against Comey despite internal concerns about the case’s strength, a move which has raised concerns among many in the legal community.

What To Know

“First of all, she’s taken on something that she has absolutely no background to do, no experience doing, never was a prosecutor,” Akerman, who was assistant special Watergate prosecutor, told Newsweek in a Wednesday phone call.

He continued, noting that Halligan is “essentially being told to indict somebody as retribution because Donald Trump perceives Comey as an enemy.”

Akerman noted in a Substack post earlier on Wednesday that “she will not be the first, nor likely the last, Trump lawyer to lose her law license for blindly following the whims of Donald Trump.”

Disbarment, which revokes a lawyer's license to practice law, is the most severe professional sanction for attorneys. Disbarment proceedings start with the state bar where the attorney is licensed. Akerman added, “most significantly this is not something that Donald Trump can save her from. A president cannot grant a pardon for being disbarred.” He pointed to former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani as an example—he was disbarred in both Washington D.C. and Florida over pushing false claims about the 2020 presidential election.

Akerman argues that Halligan may end up losing her license from this case, noting that “it’s unethical for a lawyer to do something in an area where they don’t have any expertise, and it’s even worse when you take into account when the experienced U.S. attorney who did investigate this matter determined that there was no case here.”

The DOJ maintains that Comey is guilty and should be prosecuted. The case accuses Comey of misleading investigators about authorizing leaks during his tenure at the FBI. Prosecutors must prove the statements were false, that Comey knew they were false when made, and that they were material to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s inquiry.

Halligan's lack of prosecutorial experience has drawn scrutiny from legal observers. The Eastern District of Virginia, known as the "rocket docket," handles national security and high-profile political cases at a rapid pace. Managing such a docket while overseeing politically sensitive charges against a former FBI director is challenging even for career prosecutors.

What People Are Saying

Former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy said on Maria Bartiromo’s Wall Street on September 26: “Well, I don’t think there’s a case,” adding that the indictment seems “premised on something that’s not true, which is that [Andrew] McCabe said that Comey authorized him to leak to The Wall Street Journal. … McCabe said that he directed the leak, and he told Comey about it after the fact. So, it’s true that Comey never authorized it in the sense of OK’ing it before it happened. So, I don’t see how they can make that case.”

Lindsey Halligan told The Washington Post in September: "Sports and pageants taught me confidence, discipline, and how to handle pressure—on the court, on the field, on the stage, in the courtroom and now in the White House."

President Donald Trump said in a September 20 Truth Social post: "I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, 'same old story as last time, all talk, no action. Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam 'Shifty' Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done.' Then we almost put in a Democrat supported U.S. Attorney, in Virginia, with a really bad Republican past. A Woke RINO, who was never going to do his job. That’s why two of the worst Dem Senators PUSHED him so hard. He even lied to the media and said he quit, and that we had no case. No, I fired him, and there is a GREAT CASE, and many lawyers, and legal pundits, say so. Lindsey Halligan is a really good lawyer, and likes you, a lot. We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!! President DJT"