Oct. 21 (UPI) -- 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.
