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FOIA Push and Court Challenge Mount Over EDVA Prosecutor’s Disappearing-Message Chats

The interim prosecutor is accused of breaching grand jury secrecy and federal recordkeeping rules through the Signal exchange with a reporter.

Overview

  • Lawfare published screenshots showing interim EDVA U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan used Signal’s eight-hour disappearing messages to discuss the Letitia James case with Lawfare editor Anna Bower.
  • American Oversight filed a FOIA request and sent a preservation letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Acting Archivist Marco Rubio, warning of possible unlawful removal or destruction of federal records and urging recovery.
  • Letitia James’s attorney Abbe Lowell moved to restrict extrajudicial statements, requested a litigation hold and a log of government contacts with the press, and signaled plans to seek Halligan’s disqualification.
  • The filing cites grand jury secrecy under FRCrP 6(e), DOJ and local rules governing public statements, and 44 U.S.C. § 2911 on use of non-official messaging, while noting it does not presently seek 6(e) sanctions.
  • The Justice Department did not comment as CREW urged an inspector general review, and James was arraigned today in federal court in Norfolk.