WASHINGTON — A top federal attorney is out of his job in the embattled Eastern District of Virginia, which sought to prosecute two of Donald Trump's perceived political enemies before the cases were dismissed, four people familiar with the matter told NBC News Monday.
The move to oust Robert McBride came as the Justice Department continues to say Trump loyalist Lindsey Halligan is the head of the office. A judge has pushed the administration to explain why it continues to refer to her as such, the people said.
A federal judge determined in November that Halligan was wrongly appointed and dismissed criminal cases her office brought against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Four other appointments of acting U.S. attorneys have also been ruled unlawful.
One of the people said the dispute was about whether McBride would head up any effort to re-indict Comey.
Two of the people told NBC News that McBride had also met quietly with federal judges behind the backs of administration officials in an effort to get appointed acting U.S. attorney by the court. Justice Department leadership backed the move to dismiss him, those two people said.
McBride did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for the Eastern District of Virginia declined to comment.
MS NOW reported earlier on the dismissal.
