{"id":180446,"date":"2026-03-06T07:54:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T07:54:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/180446\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T07:54:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T07:54:17","slug":"florida-bar-opens-investigation-into-lindsey-halligan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/180446\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida bar opens investigation into Lindsey Halligan"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Florida Bar has opened an investigation into\u00a0Lindsey Halligan<\/a>, the Donald Trump lawyer whose illegal temporary stint as a top federal prosecutor in Virginia\u00a0led to dismissal<\/a>\u00a0of the revenge-backed prosecutions she brought against Trump targets James Comey and Letitia James. Halligan has since left the Justice Department, but the question remains whether she\u2019ll face any professional discipline from her brief but destructive tenure, which has drawn ethical complaints.<\/p>\n

While the answer to that question remains unclear, we learned that there was a possible step taken in that direction in Florida. The New York Times\u00a0reported Thursday<\/a>\u00a0on the existence of a letter confirming an investigation, sent by the bar last month to\u00a0Campaign for Accountability, a group that had filed a bar complaint against Halligan in the Sunshine State, where she\u2019s licensed, as well as in Virginia, the scene of alleged ethical violations.<\/p>\n

The complaint<\/a> cited several rules of professional conduct that the group said Halligan\u00a0\u201cmay have violated\u201d in service of Trump\u2019s quest for revenge against Comey, the former FBI director, and James, New York\u2019s attorney general. A judge dismissed their cases last year due to the illegality of Halligan\u2019s appointment without Senate confirmation. The administration is appealing.<\/p>\n

In the bar complaint,\u00a0Campaign for Accountability\u00a0cited rules requiring candor to the court and competence, as well as ones prohibiting extrajudicial statements; knowingly bringing a charge unsupported by probable cause; and being dishonest and deceptive.\u00a0When the complaint was filed, I noted some challenges<\/a>\u00a0it might face in terms of proving the allegations, as well as the fact that the Florida Bar had previously refused to even consider ethical claims against Attorney General Pam Bondi, on the grounds that the bar said it doesn\u2019t\u00a0investigate or prosecute \u201csitting officers appointed under the U.S. Constitution while they are in office.\u201d<\/p>\n

But that rationale for shielding higher-raking officials hasn\u2019t stopped the state from at least looking into Halligan.<\/p>\n

Beyond that, it\u2019s unclear what will come of the Halligan probe.\u00a0The brief Feb. 4 letter<\/a>\u00a0from the bar said the state authorities were aware of recent developments raised by Campaign for Accountability, and that the bar has been \u201cmonitoring them closely\u201d and already has an investigation pending. Campaign for Accountability shared the letter with the Times after the newspaper\u00a0reported Wednesday<\/a>\u00a0on the DOJ \u201ctrying to stall state bar investigations of their lawyers,\u201d the group said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While announcing a Feb. 2 renewed complaint<\/a>\u00a0to the Virginia State Bar that sought to convince the bar to investigate Halligan, which Campaign for Accountability said it also had shared with the Florida Bar, the group said Halligan \u201cdefied clear judicial orders by continuing to represent herself as U.S. Attorney after being told she lacked legal authority to do so, and that she made \u2018fundamental misstatements of the law\u2019 to a grand jury that \u2018could compromise the integrity of the grand jury process.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Whatever happens in Virginia \u2014 each state operates on its own \u2014 the opening of a Florida investigation raises the question of what that means in that state.<\/p>\n

The Florida Bar lays out the process<\/a>\u00a0online. It says that after a complaint is filed, an \u201cintake counsel\u201d can reject it if the allegations wouldn\u2019t violate bar rules even if proved; otherwise, the case can move forward toward an investigation. The bar can also initiate inquiries itself.<\/p>\n

\tRecommended<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\"Illustration\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tJordan Rubin<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tJordan\u00a0Rubin is the Deadline: Legal Blog writer. He was a prosecutor for the New York County District Attorney\u2019s Office in Manhattan\u00a0and is the author of \u201cBizarro,” a book about the secret war on synthetic drugs. Before he joined MS NOW, he was a legal reporter for Bloomberg Law.\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\tLatest Post\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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