Trump-Appointed Prosecutor in Comey Case Could Be Disbarred, Says Ex-Watergate Lawyer
The Justice Department’s prosecution of former FBI Director James Comey is already sparking fierce backlash — not just over the charges themselves, but because of the prosecutor leading the case. And according to former Watergate prosecutor Nick Akerman, the attorney behind the indictment may be jeopardizing her entire career.
Speaking to Newsweek ahead of Comey’s arraignment on Wednesday, Akerman was blunt. He said Lindsey Halligan — the newly appointed U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia and a former Trump White House aide — is “playing a pretty dangerous game here in terms of her law license.”
Halligan isn’t just handling any federal case. She’s overseeing one of the most politically explosive prosecutions in years — a criminal indictment against a former FBI chief who once led investigations into Russian election interference. But Halligan’s résumé raises eyebrows: she’s a former insurance attorney with no background in criminal prosecution.
“First of all, she’s taken on something she has absolutely no background to do,” Akerman told Newsweek. “She was never a prosecutor, never tried a criminal case. And this looks like pure retribution — an effort to indict someone Donald Trump personally views as an enemy.”
The Justice Department disputes that characterization. The case centers on whether Comey misled investigators about authorizing leaks to the media while serving as FBI director. Prosecutors must prove the statements were false, knowingly false, and material to a Senate Judiciary Committee probe. Yet even some conservative legal analysts have doubts.
“I don’t think there’s a case,” said Andrew McCarthy, a former federal prosecutor, during an appearance on Fox Business. He argued the indictment “seems premised on something that’s not true,” pointing to former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe’s statements that he approved the leak to The Wall Street Journal and only informed Comey afterward. “So technically, Comey didn’t authorize it,” McCarthy said. “That undercuts the entire case.”
But the controversy isn’t just about evidence — it’s about ethics.
Akerman believes Halligan could face bar discipline, possibly even disbarment, for taking on a case so far outside her expertise. “It’s unethical for a lawyer to handle something they’re not qualified for,” he said. “And it’s worse when the prior, experienced U.S. attorney who looked into this already concluded there was no case.”
That earlier prosecutor was reportedly removed after declining to indict Comey — a move Trump himself appeared to confirm in a Truth Social post praising Halligan for pressing ahead.
Disbarment, Akerman warned, would be devastating. “That’s not something Donald Trump can pardon,” he said. “A president can’t save you from losing your law license.”
He compared Halligan’s trajectory to that of Rudy Giuliani, another Trump ally stripped of his licenses in D.C. and Florida for spreading election falsehoods. “She won’t be the first — and probably not the last — Trump lawyer to lose her law license for following orders,” Akerman wrote on Substack.
Halligan, however, has defended her credentials in unconventional terms. “Sports and pageants taught me confidence, discipline, and how to handle pressure—on the court, on the stage, in the courtroom, and now in the White House,” she told The Washington Post last month.
Still, few would call the Eastern District of Virginia a training ground. Known for its speed and complexity, it handles some of the nation’s most sensitive political and national security cases — hardly a place for on-the-job learning.
Meanwhile, Trump has openly cheered the prosecution. In a September 20 Truth Social post, he declared: “There is a GREAT CASE... Lindsey Halligan is a really good lawyer... JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”
Comey pleaded not guilty on Wednesday, with a trial date set for January 5.
But according to Akerman, the real fallout may come before the verdict. “This could blow up in the administration’s face,” he warned. “It could embarrass both the White House and the Justice Department — and it could cost Halligan her license.”