Trump’s hand-picked interim prosecutor Lindsey Halligan contacted a legal reporter on an encrypted Signal chat to object to criticism of the Letitia James case Halligan filed.
A 33-hour text exchange between Halligan and Lawfare editor/reporter Anna Bower ensued after Bower tweeted out segments of a New York Times article that contradicted the indictment against James.
The reporter screenshotted what she called “important exculpatory evidence” regarding the second Atlanta home James purchased, which is at the center of the indictment for mortgage fraud.
Halligan reached out to object: “You are reporting things that are simply not true. Thought you should have a heads up.”
Bower then clarified that she was commenting on the Times reporting and asked if she wrote something inaccurate in one of her tweets.
“You’re assuming exculpatory evidence without knowing what you’re talking about. 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,” Halligan replied.
Bower continued to ask what she could correct but needed to know specifics, noting she would be willing to retract her statements “but I can’t do that if I don’t know what the supposed error is.”
Halligan went on complaining but admitted she couldn’t tell Bower further grand jury information, even though Halligan instigated the unsolicited conversation.
The back and forth stalemated, with Halligan warning Bower that her credibility would be ruined “when the evidence came out.”
The next day Bower tried again.
“What was the purpose of reaching out to me, if not to open a line of communication? Was it just to insult my reporting?”
“No, it was for you to correct it, which you refused to do,” she replied.
Bower: Let’s talk when you have the liberty to do so.
Halligan: Feel free to reach out when you have questions.
Impasse.
When Bower made the decision to publish the Signal conversation with Halligan, she reached out to the DOJ for another opportunity to comment. She got her response late in the day.
Halligan: “By the way—everything I ever sent you is off record. You’re not a journalist so it’s weird saying that but just letting you know.”
Bower: “I’m sorry, but that’s not how this works. You don’t get to say that in retrospect. I am really sorry. I would have been happy to speak with you on an off the record basis had you asked. But you didn’t ask, and I still haven’t agreed to speak on that basis. Do you have any further comment for the story?”
Halligan: “It’s obvious the whole convo is off record. There’s disappearing messages and it’s on signal. What is your story? You never told me about a story.”
From Lawfare, the Independent
Nicole Wallace has more on the questionable appointment of Lindsey Halligan’s appointment and the weird text exchange.