Florida Bar Probes Ethics of Virginia’s Ex-US Attorney Halligan

The Florida Bar has opened an ethics investigation of former Eastern Virginia US Attorney Lindsey Halligan based on allegations of potential dishonesty and misrepresentations cited in judicial rebukes as she prosecuted Trump foes.

“We are aware of these developments and have been monitoring them closely. We already have an investigation pending,” wrote a Florida bar counsel Feb. 4 in response to a nonprofit’s renewed complaint seeking a probe into Halligan’s conduct.

The Campaign for Accountability published the letter on its website Thursday, after it was reported on earlier by the New York Times.

The investigation from the state disciplinary authority where Halligan is licensed to practice law was launched ahead of the Justice Department’s proposed rule Wednesday aiming to empower the attorney general to halt state bar investigations into current and former DOJ attorneys. The Trump DOJ cast the proposal as necessary in light of the “weaponization” of the bar complaint process, including from “political activists” who’ve alleged misconduct by senior department officials.

Although Florida bar authorities didn’t state in their letter what specific alleged violations they were investigating, the Campaign for Accountability identified possible wrongdoing connected to how she obtained indictments of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) to a grand jury.

The group cited a federal judge’s Nov. 24 finding that Halligan was illegally appointed as interim US attorney at the time she presented evidence to grand juries in those matters, and another judge suggesting she made false statements to the court by continuing to identify herself as US attorney. Halligan resigned in January when the district’s chief judge ruled she was barred from continuing to serve.

The investigation could result in the disbarment of Halligan—a former insurance lawyer who’d never prosecuted before Trump handpicked her to serve as Eastern Virginia’s top prosecutor last fall. But it would first need to pass through multiple stages of bureaucracy and appeals with the Florida Supreme Court having the final say.

The Campaign for Accountability has also filed bar complaints against former senior DOJ official Emil Bove and former New Jersey US Attorney Alina Habba. New York’s disciplinary body declined to open an investigation into Bove and New Jersey never responded, said the watchdog’s spokesman Michael Clauw.