Halligan, who twice competed in the Miss Colorado USA pageant, will now lead one of the nation’s most important federal prosecutor offices.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday he had appointed his former attorney Lindsey Halligan to be U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, hours after pressuring his attorney general to more aggressively pursue his political enemies.

"I will be nominating Lindsey Halligan to be the United States Attorney in this very important part of our Great Country," President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post after ousting U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert of the Eastern District of Virginia to replace him with someone who may bring criminal charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James.

President Donald Trump says he intends to nominate one of his former defense attorneys, Lindsey Halligan, to lead a key federal prosecutor's office in Virginia.

President Donald Trump has nominated a familiar face to become Virginia's top prosecutor after Erik Siebert stepped away on Friday. Trump announced that he is nominating Lindsey Halligan, a senior aide in the White House,

Lindsey Halligan worked as a personal lawyer for President Trump and then led the effort to scrutinize the Smithsonian for “improper ideology.”

Donald Trump has named former personal lawyer Lindsey Halligan to lead high-profile investigations into political rivals, prompting warnings from ex-federal prosecutors about politicisation of the justice system and lack of prosecutorial experience.