{"id":155422,"date":"2026-03-06T16:57:45","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T16:57:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/155422\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T16:57:45","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T16:57:45","slug":"trumps-beauty-queen-lindsey-halligan-under-investigation-by-florida-bar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/155422\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump&#8217;s Beauty Queen Lindsey Halligan Under Investigation by Florida Bar"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The president\u2019s former lawyer is under a microscope for her on-the-job behavior. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Former federal prosecutor and beauty pageant contestant Lindsey Halligan is under investigation in Florida, <a onclick=\"_sendArticleBodyInlineLinkClickAnalytics(&#039;https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/05\/us\/politics\/lindsey-halligan-investigation-florida-bar.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&#039;)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/05\/us\/politics\/lindsey-halligan-investigation-florida-bar.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/05\/us\/politics\/lindsey-halligan-investigation-florida-bar.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share\">The New York Times<\/a> reported on Thursday, citing a letter sent by the state\u2019s bar association.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The outlet explained that the letter was addressed to the executive director of the legal watchdog group Campaign for Accountability, which <a onclick=\"_sendArticleBodyInlineLinkClickAnalytics(&#039;https:\/\/campaignforaccountability.org\/watchdog-files-bar-complaint-against-interim-us-attorney-lindsey-halligan\/&#039;)\" href=\"https:\/\/campaignforaccountability.org\/watchdog-files-bar-complaint-against-interim-us-attorney-lindsey-halligan\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/campaignforaccountability.org\/watchdog-files-bar-complaint-against-interim-us-attorney-lindsey-halligan\/\">filed<\/a> professional misconduct complaints against Halligan to both the Florida and Virginia bar associations in November.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The Florida bar association told the nonprofit organization in the letter, which included Halligan, \u201cWe already have an investigation pending.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"Lindsey Halligan, part of former US President Donald Trump's legal team, leaves the Paul G. Rogers Federal Building &amp; Courthouse after a court hearing in West Palm Beach, Florida, on September 1, 2022.\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/YAYST2MXKBHGXMP3G5R5XO4V2Y.jpg\"  width=\"800\" height=\"533\"\/>Halligan formerly represented Trump as part of his personal legal team. MARCO BELLO\/AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">An investigation could result in disbarment for Halligan, 36, but the process would likely take years before she would lose her license to practice law.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">On Wednesday, the Department of Justice posted a notice in the Federal Register saying that it wanted priority over state bar associations in investigations involving its own lawyers, requesting that state bar disciplinary authorities \u201csuspend any parallel investigations until the completion of the department\u2019s review.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">A legal expert told the <a onclick=\"_sendArticleBodyInlineLinkClickAnalytics(&#039;https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/04\/us\/politics\/justice-department-state-bar-associations-lawyers.html&#039;)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/04\/us\/politics\/justice-department-state-bar-associations-lawyers.html\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/04\/us\/politics\/justice-department-state-bar-associations-lawyers.html\">Times<\/a> the DOJ\u2019s move amounts to \u201ca threat.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">A spokeswoman for the DOJ declined to comment.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"Halligan\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/4NMA2KH7YRGYZMNW3UD6ZAEDFU.jpg\"  width=\"800\" height=\"533\"\/>Halligan had no criminal prosecution experience before Trump appointed her as an interim U.S. attorney. MARCO BELLO\/AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The former Miss Colorado contestant\u2019s legal career has been a roller coaster during President Donald Trump\u2019s second administration. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">In September, Halligan\u2014Trump\u2019s former personal attorney who has no criminal prosecution experience\u2014was sworn in as the interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">She came in to replace Erik Siebert, who was ousted after refusing to bring charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James at Trump\u2019s command.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The insurance lawyer swiftly moved to do what her predecessor refused to, seeking indictments against James and former FBI Director James Comey. But in November, a judge threw out the indictments on the grounds that she was illegally serving as a federal prosecutor.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"Pam Bondi\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/4LLL47RF55FJ5NUWTNUSNBDIUM.JPG\"  width=\"800\" height=\"533\"\/>Bondi tried to protect Halligan from scrutiny by labeling her as a &#8220;special attorney.&#8221; Kent Nishimura\/Reuters <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Attorney General Pam Bondi attempted to shore up Halligan against criticism by giving her an additional title of \u201cspecial attorney,\u201d but the court rejected the argument and dismissed the cases in a Nov. 24 ruling that confirmed the illegality of her service.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Halligan continued to identify herself as a U.S. attorney and signed criminal indictments after the ruling, but a federal judge declared her former position \u201cvacant\u201d and open to new applicants in January.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"Lindsey Halligan at the Men's Singles Final on Day 15 of the 2025 US Open Tennis Championships at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 07, 2025 in Flushing Meadows, Queens, New York City.\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/3FUM3L2RFRDGNBS65SGWKGTDQE.jpg\"  width=\"800\" height=\"800\"\/>Lindsey Halligan was Donald Trump\u2019s personal attorney on civil cases and had no prosecutorial experience before she was named Virginia&#8217;s top federal prosecutor. XNY\/Star Max\/GC Images <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">District Judge David Novak, a Trump appointee, also issued a <a onclick=\"_sendArticleBodyInlineLinkClickAnalytics(&#039;https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/documents\/468ef241-1f53-4af1-a8da-21ff0960a2fb.pdf?itid=lk_inline_manual_9&#039;)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/documents\/468ef241-1f53-4af1-a8da-21ff0960a2fb.pdf?itid=lk_inline_manual_9\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/documents\/468ef241-1f53-4af1-a8da-21ff0960a2fb.pdf?itid=lk_inline_manual_9\">ruling<\/a> threatening disciplinary proceedings against Halligan if she continues to refer to herself as a U.S. attorney.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cNo matter all of her machinations, Ms. Halligan has no legal basis to represent to this Court that she holds the position. And any such representation going forward can only be described as a false statement made in direct defiance of valid court orders,\u201d Novak wrote. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cIn short, this charade of Ms. Halligan masquerading as the United States Attorney for this District in direct defiance of binding court orders must come to an end.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The president\u2019s former lawyer is under a microscope for her on-the-job behavior. Former federal prosecutor and beauty pageant&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":155423,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[6212,64333,1980,3640,2710,2853,9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":{"0":"post-155422","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-bar","9":"tag-bar-association","10":"tag-donald-j-trump","11":"tag-florida","12":"tag-law","13":"tag-lindsey-halligan","14":"tag-new-york","15":"tag-new-york-city","16":"tag-nyc","17":"tag-queens","18":"tag-queens-headlines","19":"tag-queens-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155422\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}