STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
In this country every day, federal prosecutors make decisions that change people's lives. That's one of the reasons that elaborate rules govern just how United States attorneys are appointed. And today in two separate courts, two separate legal arguments challenge the way that President Trump appointed prosecutors. One of the arguments concerns the prosecutor who obtained an indictment of former FBI Director James Comey. NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson is covering this story. Carrie, good morning.
CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE: Good morning, Steve.
INSKEEP: Who are the U.S. attorneys involved?
JOHNSON: Yeah, let's start with Lindsey Halligan. She's the former insurance lawyer who worked for President Trump. She had been scrubbing the Smithsonian museums of what the White House calls woke ideology. That's until last month. That's when the president forced out the top federal prosecutor in eastern Virginia and replaced him with Lindsey Halligan. Within a few days, she persuaded a grand jury to indict the former FBI Director Jim Comey on charges of allegedly lying to Congress. But Comey and his lawyer are planning to file a motion today to dismiss the indictment on the basis that Halligan was not appointed in a lawful way.
INSKEEP: Oh, meaning she was not legitimately the U.S. attorney. But how does the process normally work?
JOHNSON: This is complicated. In a normal situation, the president would nominate these U.S .attorneys. The Senate would vet their record and confirm them. But if the Senate does not act, then there's a law that says a prosecutor can do the job for 120 days. After that, judges get to weigh in and appoint their own candidate. And then a third path is through a law that deals with all kinds of federal vacancies. That lets a president install a temporary U.S. attorney if the Senate has confirmed that person for another big job and they have some experience at the Justice Department.
INSKEEP: OK, so there are various paths here. But what is the matter with the way that Halligan got the job?
JOHNSON: A career prosecutor had stepped in at the start of the Trump administration. He served for that maximum 120 days and then judges in Virginia asked him to stay on the job. The prosecutor concluded there was not enough evidence to charge Jim Comey with any crimes, so the president forced the prosecutor out of the job and gave it to Lindsey Halligan. But it's unclear Donald Trump followed all the legal steps, and that could really matter. Halligan presented Comey's case to the grand jury. She's the only lawyer who signed the papers. Ed Whelan's a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in D.C.
ED WHELAN: She is the sole signatory on the indictment. So if she was not validly appointed, it's a fatal flaw in the indictment.
INSKEEP: Wow. I just want to note, Carrie, that even though these processes are complicated, they seem to get at a crucial thing, that the president is supposed to appoint important people with the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate. It's supposed to be, in that way, a collective decision. And this limits the president's power to act unilaterally. And the allegation is he was too unilateral in Virginia. What about the other court case?
JOHNSON: Yeah, this morning, a federal appeals court is preparing to hear a separate case over the U.S. attorney in New Jersey. That's Alina Habba. She also worked for Trump before he returned to the White House. She was serving in that 120-day period. And as the clock was ticking down, judges in New Jersey named a career prosecutor to do it. The Trump administration then fired that prosecutor, and the attorney general installed Alina Habba again. People charged with crimes now say Habba was not legally appointed. James Pearce is a lawyer challenging Habba's appointment. He says there are big consequences.
JAMES PEARCE: The district court judges are apprehensive about moving forward. So for all practical purposes, many, many of the cases, the federal criminal prosecutions, have ground to a halt.
JOHNSON: A White House spokesman told me President Trump has full confidence in Habba and Halligan and that their work has made the nation safer.
INSKEEP: NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson, thanks so much.
JOHNSON: Thank you.
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