It may surprise some people, but until this week the Russia collusion hoax was still alive. Two prosecutions from the Robert Mueller era were still ongoing. On paper, the first, against a dozen Russians no one has ever seen or heard of, who were accused of hacking the Democratic National Committee (DNC) without a shred of verifiable evidence, remains open. But for all practical purposes, the hoax is now over, because the other, far more consequential case finally came to an end on Monday thanks to the courage and persistence of the new U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Lindsey Halligan.
Many of us remember the abusive prosecutions Mueller’s team inflicted on figures such as Michael Flynn, Roger Stone, and George Papadopoulos. Far fewer know about the collateral damage that extended beyond President Donald Trump’s circle. One of the most egregious cases targeted a Dutch-Turkish businessman, Ekim Alptekin.
Alptekin had no connection to Trump, no connection to Russia, and no reason whatsoever to be caught in the Mueller dragnet. His only “crime” was hiring Gen. Michael Flynn’s consulting firm, the Flynn Intelligence Group, for a project unrelated to the 2016 election. The project involved raising awareness about an alleged radical Islamist cleric living in the United States, a matter of concern to Alptekin but irrelevant to anything Mueller was supposed to be investigating.
So why was Alptekin targeted? Because Mueller’s team combed through Flynn’s client list, searching for anyone they could pressure into making false claims. They zeroed in on Alptekin, attempting to coerce him into asserting that Flynn had secretly lobbied on behalf of Turkey without registering under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), intending to use that fabricated claim as leverage against Flynn and, ultimately, Trump. When Alptekin refused to lie, Mueller’s prosecutors proceeded to file bogus FARA charges against him.
Flynn’s business partner, Bijan Rafiekian, was hit with parallel charges. Unlike Alptekin, Rafiekian lived in the U.S., so his case went to trial. Predictably, he was convicted by a heavily partisan Northern Virginia jury, only for Judge Anthony Trenga, a George W. Bush appointee, to throw out the verdict almost immediately, finding that the government had failed to prove its case. This alone is remarkable and highlights how in Alexandria, right across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., the jury pool is deeply tainted and partisan. After a long and messy appeals process, Rafiekian’s case was dismissed entirely.
Yet the related case against Alptekin somehow stayed alive. For seven years he lived in legal purgatory, unable to see his wife and children for fear of extradition, his business destroyed, projects abandoned, accounts frozen, millions in legal fees piling up, and his professional reputation shattered.
Ties to Biden
By way of background, having followed this case from the beginning and recognizing the outrageous injustice, especially given that Alptekin had no connection to Russia, the Trump campaign, or the alleged collusion, I had occasionally posted about his plight on X (formerly Twitter). When Trump returned to office in January, I expected this last relic of the Russia hoax to be shut down immediately. I co-hosted a live chat at the time, during which Alptekin himself joined to share his story. Among other revelations, he disclosed that during his ordeal, Joe Biden’s brother Jim traveled to Turkey to meet him and offered to make his legal troubles go away if he hired Obama’s attorney general, Eric Holder, for a $3 million fee. Alptekin refused, and his nightmare only deepened.
Who Recommended Former U.S. Attorney?
Unfortunately, things did not improve under Trump’s second term, largely because the U.S. Attorney’s Office that handled the case, the Eastern District of Virginia, was in poor hands. The office was run by Trump appointee Eric Siebert, a man backed by Virginia Democrats Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, who was obstructing Trump’s agenda. Given the sheer number of appointees, it is unlikely Trump had any idea who Siebert was, but whoever recommended him clearly should be held accountable.
When it became clear that Siebert was undermining prosecutions of James Comey and Letitia James, Trump removed him, notwithstanding strong objections from the media and apparently some within his own Department of Justice (DOJ). Even Halligan’s appointment met resistance within the DOJ, and it ultimately took a strongly worded post by Trump on Truth Social, directed at Attorney General Pam Bondi, to make it happen.
Halligan Gets the Job Done Fast and Well
Predictably, the media sought to portray Halligan as unqualified, crafting a caricature of her as a “dumb blonde” without the usual elite law school credentials, just as they once questioned Clarence Thomas while elevating a senile Mueller as a towering legal intellect. As usual, the reality was the exact opposite.
In just a few weeks as U.S. Attorney, Halligan accomplished more to uphold justice than her predecessors managed in years, or perhaps ever. She secured indictments against both James Comey and Letitia James, taking the extraordinary step of presenting the cases herself to deeply Democratic grand juries that few would have expected to indict a Democrat. She did all of this while contending with internal sabotage, mastering massive case files in days, and handling the courtroom work on her own.
Dismissing the Witch Hunt
Halligan has now closed the final chapter of the Russia hoax by dismissing the fraudulent case against Alptekin, despite entrenched career prosecutors who tried to block her at every turn. A source familiar with the matter told me that those same bureaucrats fought fiercely to prevent the dismissal, even though the related case against Rafiekian had already been thrown out. Whether Siebert himself participated in the obstruction is unclear, but he certainly did nothing to stop it. Had Trump not removed him, the witch hunt would still be dragging on today.
The end of this ordeal is a massive relief for Alptekin and his family, but it is also a warning. The deep state, the Democrat lawfare machine, and their allies inside the bureaucracy are still very much at work. Even after seven years, they were fighting to preserve a fake case that should never have existed.
Halligan’s victory proves what happens when someone honest, fearless, and competent stands up to that system. She is not a résumé-chaser or a Harvard nameplate lawyer. She is a doer who cuts through the rot and refuses to be intimidated. The country desperately needs more people like her to restore real justice.
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