Donald Trump’s campaign of retribution against his political enemies took a surreal turn this week when the spotlight shifted away from James Comey’s indictment and toward the woman charged with carrying it out.

Lindsey Halligan, a 36-year-old former pageant contestant and longtime Trump attorney, was sworn in Monday as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. By Thursday, she was the face of one of the most high-profile prosecutions in the country—bringing charges against former FBI Director James Comey for allegedly lying under oath before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2020 and obstructing justice.

But Halligan’s first official statement announcing the indictment contained a blunder so basic that it quickly overshadowed the gravity of the case. “The balance of power is a bedrock principal of our democracy,” her office declared. One problem: she meant “principle.”

The slip, flagged by CBS News, might seem minor. But in Washington, where perception is power, it instantly became a symbol of what critics see as Trump’s habit of prioritizing loyalty over competence. A “principal,” after all, is a school administrator—or a financial sum. A “principle” is a foundational truth.

“It’s embarrassing,” said one former DOJ official. “She was announcing an indictment of a former FBI Director, and the takeaway is that she doesn’t know the difference between ‘principal’ and ‘principle.’”

Halligan has not commented on the error, and her office did not respond to multiple inquiries from reporters.

The mistake is especially striking given Halligan’s unusual path to her powerful new role. Until recently, she worked in insurance law, with no prosecutorial experience. She was recruited to Trump’s legal orbit after meeting him at his Florida golf club in 2021, later joining his team to fight the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago and to handle defamation litigation against CNN. Vanity Fair reported she also led Trump’s effort to purge “woke” content from the Smithsonian museums.

Before her law career, Halligan was better known on the pageant circuit, competing in Miss Colorado USA and placing third runner-up in 2010. She has described that world as formative training for the political and legal arenas. “Sports and pageants taught me confidence, discipline, and how to handle pressure—on the court, on the field, on the stage, in the courtroom and now in the White House,” she told The Washington Post earlier this year.

Trump himself has hailed her as “tough, smart, and loyal,” praising her intelligence and fearlessness. But her ascension followed controversy: she replaced Erik Siebert, the previous U.S. Attorney, who reportedly resigned after refusing to bring charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James. Hours later, Trump announced on Truth Social, “I fired him.”

That pattern has fueled accusations that Trump is politicizing the Justice Department, stocking it with allies willing to do his bidding. Halligan’s public stumble has only emboldened those critics.

Meanwhile, James Comey himself has leaned into the moment. In a video posted to Instagram after the indictment, the former FBI director insisted he was innocent and expressed faith in the judicial process. “The truth will prevail,” he said, smiling faintly into the camera.

On CNN, Justice Correspondent Evan Perez raised eyebrows over Halligan’s direct role in presenting the indictment. “Usually, you have career assistant U.S. Attorneys making those presentations to a grand jury,” he noted. “In this case, we know that there were concerns raised internally about whether this case could even be brought.”

To Halligan’s supporters, the spelling gaffe is little more than an overblown distraction—a typo weaponized by critics desperate to undermine a Trump ally before she even starts. To her detractors, it is symbolic: proof that Trump’s new team of loyalists may lack the professionalism and experience required for the highest-stakes legal battles in the nation.

For now, what should have been a triumphant debut—announcing the long-awaited indictment of Trump’s most famous nemesis—has instead turned into a cautionary tale about words, perception, and the perils of inexperience.

As one late-night host joked Thursday evening: “She promised to uphold the bedrock ‘principals’ of democracy. Maybe next week she’ll tackle the vice principals.”