Trump prosecutor's inexperience 'may seem funny but it's also dangerous': legal expert

President Donald Trump’s hand-picked prosecutor for the Eastern District of Virginia, Lindsey Halligan, is facing scrutiny both in and out of court as New York Attorney General Letitia James enters her plea in the housing case against her.

Halligan, a close ally of Trump, was appointed after the previous U.S. attorney declined to indict some of the president’s rivals due to insufficient evidence.

This week, Halligan found herself in a Signal scandal of her own when she reached out to legal reporter Anna Bower of Lawfare without indicating that their conversation was off the record.

James was indicted for bank fraud after allegedly misrepresenting the use of a Virginia property on mortgage documents. According to NBC News, James’ niece was residing in the home, not James herself. Claiming the property as a primary residence could have saved James between $15 and $50 a month.

"It was essentially her talking about this case and the strength of the evidence in a way that seemed to at least skirt around the edges of potential grand jury material, which is improper," said justice and intelligence reporter Ken Dilanian. "It's against the law for prosecutors to reveal anything that went before a grand jury. Witnesses can talk about it, but prosecutors and lawyers can't."

"It also violates ethical rules that all prosecutors should be familiar with," said former Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Rebecca Roiphe. "If you are speaking about an ongoing investigation or an ongoing prosecution, there is always a danger that your words could prejudice that trial. And if they do, you know, that's a very, very serious allegation of professional misconduct."

"And I think this goes back to the fact that Lindsey Halligan has no experience in prosecution," she continued. "One of the odd things in this case that, you know, constitutes a red flag, that she was brought in with a background in insurance law. She never went into the grand jury before this case. And I think her inexperience, you know, it may seem sort of, you know, funny, but it, in fact, is quite dangerous in a case like this."

If the James case were "a righteous" one, Roiphe explained, Halligan's recklessness could mess it up.