Prosecutor Maggie Cleary has been removed from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, a source confirmed to CBS News, the latest sign of upheaval in a high-profile Justice Department outpost that is overseeing charges against two Trump foes.
A former state prosecutor, Cleary briefly led the Eastern District of Virginia last month, shortly after former acting U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert resigned. Cleary told staff that she was Siebert’s replacement, but days later, former White House aide and Trump personal lawyer Lindsey Halligan was sworn in as interim U.S. attorney, effectively taking over control of the office.
It’s unclear if Cleary was removed from the Justice Department altogether or if she was reassigned to a different role. She served as first assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, and worked as senior counsel in the Justice Department’s criminal division.
A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment.
CNN was first to report on Cleary’s ouster.
Cleary is the latest prosecutor to leave the Eastern District of Virginia. The office is one of the largest federal prosecutor’s offices in the country, and is known for handling a unique mix of national security cases. But in recent weeks, it has also drawn attention for charging former FBI Director James Comey with lying to Congress and charging New York Attorney General Letitia James with mortgage fraud two weeks later.
President Trump had publicly urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to look into Comey and James, both of whom are longtime political adversaries.
Siebert resigned from his post last month amid concerns within the office that he could be fired for failing to bring a case against James, CBS News has previously reported. Mr. Trump later said Siebert had been fired because he had too much support from Senate Democrats.
Days later, Halligan took over the job and personally signed Comey’s indictment. Staff in the U.S. Attorney’s Office had circulated a memo that argued against charging Comey, a Justice Department source familiar with the matter previously told CBS News.
Two other high-level prosecutors were also fired from the office in recent weeks: Michael Ben’Ary and Maya Song.
In a letter to colleagues obtained by CBS News, Ben’Ary warned his abrupt firing could hurt the prosecution of a man accused of planning the 2021 Abbey Gate bombing that killed 13 U.S. service members in Afghanistan.
“I am disappointed to leave behind a national security and public safety mission that I truly believed in,” he wrote. “I am even more disappointed to see what has happened to this office and the Department of Justice in just a few short months.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/doj-prosecutor-removed-from-office-james-comey-letitia-james/
