Top US prosecutor’s use of text message auto-delete could be illegal, watchdog groups warn

A top federal prosecutor’s use of an encrypted messaging application with messages set to be automatically deleted after eight hours was potentially illegal, two watchdog groups said.

Lindsey Halligan, the interim US attorney for the eastern district of Virginia, used Signal earlier this month to communicate with Anna Bower, a journalist for Lawfare, about the criminal case she is pursuing against the New York attorney general, Letitia James. Bower published the full conversation on Monday evening and said Halligan had set messages to auto-delete after eight hours.

“The story about US attorney Lindsey Halligan’s use of Signal is deeply troubling. That she used the app apparently to discuss government business with a reporter, and configured her messages to disappear after eight hours, raises serious concerns that she is actively violating the Federal Records Act and the justice department’s own records-retention rules,” said Chioma Chukwu, executive director of American Oversight, a non-profit that frequently files lawsuits under the Freedom of Information Act to obtain federal records. The group submitted a public records request for Halligan’s Signal messages on Thursday.

“Even if portions of the conversation might contain information not typically subject to immediate public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, federal law still requires that such records be preserved for specified periods. Setting such communications to automatically delete is not only inconsistent with those obligations but patently unlawful,” she said. “If Halligan failed to ensure these Signal messages were preserved, her actions may have violated federal law and warrant investigation or corrective action by Attorney General Pam Bondi and Acting Archivist Marco Rubio.”

The justice department did not return a request for comment.

Federal law generally requires government employees to preserve official government records and sets penalties for destroying them.

“Department of Justice guidance makes clear that federal records created or received in the course of official business must be preserved in accordance with all records-management regulations and policies,” said Donald Sherman, executive director and chief counsel of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, another watchdog group. “If Lawfare’s reporting is accurate that Ms Halligan had official communications about government business including prosecutions and destroyed those records using the Signal app, then that would seem to be a clear problem under DoJ’s records-retention guidance and other rules. It seems clear that the DoJ office of inspector general should look into her conduct and make a determination about whether she violated the rules.”

Top intelligence officials have said they routinely use Signal. Use of the app in government came under scrutiny earlier this year when then national security adviser Mike Waltz added Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of the Atlantic, to a Signal group chat in which top officials, including the vice-president, JD Vance, discussed details of an attack in Yemen. American Oversight previously sued the government over the matter.

Halligan, a Trump ally, was installed as the top prosecutor in Virginia last month after her predecessor resisted pressure to file criminal charges against the former FBI director James Comey. Days after being appointed, Halligan personally secured an indictment against Comey. She has also brought criminal charges against Letitia James on mortgage fraud allegations.

Both Comey and James have pleaded not guilty. Comey has filed a motion to dismiss his case for selective prosecution.

“What makes this all the more alarming is the context: Halligan appears to have engaged in this conduct while pursuing unprecedented prosecutions against the president’s perceived political enemies – heightening concerns that her disregard for records-preservation laws may be part of a broader pattern of politicized and unethical behavior within the Department of Justice,” Chukwu said.