politics
Trump Administration Appoints Theo Stamos U.S. Attorney for Eastern Virginia, Ending Interim Leadership
The Trump administration appointed former Arlington County prosecutor Theo Stamos to serve as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. The move fills a leadership vacancy in an office that has operated without a permanent head since early 2026.
Jul 19, 10:33 AM·1m read1 source
westernjournal.comAudio version
Tap play to generate a narrated version.
Developing·Limited corroboration so far. This page will refresh as more sources emerge.
The Trump administration named former Arlington County Commonwealth’s Attorney Theo Stamos to be the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia on July 19, 2026. com reported that Stamos was also appointed first assistant U.S. Attorney in the Alexandria-based office.
The Eastern District has struggled to appoint a permanent leader. In 2025 the White House installed Lindsey Halligan, a former personal attorney of President Trump, to lead the office.
Federal judges in Virginia later declared her appointment illegal because federal law bars two consecutive interim U.S. attorneys. Halligan had been installed to pursue criminal charges against former FBI Director James B. Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Her predecessor, Erik Siebert, had refused to bring those cases. The Department of Justice removed Halligan in January 2026, after which executive assistant Frank Bradsher served as stand-in lead prosecutor.
Stamos served two terms as Arlington County’s top prosecutor before losing a 2019 Democratic primary. She worked in the Justice Department’s Office of Legislative Affairs from January 2020 to February 2022 and later served as a deputy in Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares’s office. Stamos and the Justice Department declined to comment on the appointment, washingtontimes.com reported.
