Florida bar investigating Lindsey Halligan over Comey, James cases
Lindsey Halligan is under investigation by the Florida Bar Association for her efforts to prosecute President Donald Trump’s enemies. File Photo by Al Drago/EPA
March 6 (UPI) — Former Justice Department official Lindsey Halligan is under investigation by the Florida Bar Association for her time trying to prosecute President Donald Trump‘s enemies while acting as a U.S. attorney.
Halligan, Trump’s former personal attorney, brought cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, both of which failed. On Nov. 24, U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie in South Carolina dismissed both cases and ruled that Attorney General Pam Bondi‘s installation of Halligan as interim U.S. attorney was invalid. But Halligan continued to work as a U.S. attorney in the Justice Department.
In January, Halligan stepped down from the position after a U.S. District Judge David Novak ordered her to stop “masquerading as a U.S. attorney in Virginia.
The Florida bar, of which Halligan is a member, sent a letter to the nonprofit Campaign for Accountability acknowledging the investigation.
The Campaign for Accountability had requested disciplinary proceedings against Halligan over her conduct while acting as a U.S. attorney in the cases against Comey and James. It sent a similar request to the Virginia bar about Halligan, who worked as an insurance lawyer in Florida before Trump’s second administration.
“We already have an investigation pending,” the Florida bar said in its letter, which was also sent to Halligan, according to a copy reviewed by The Washington Post.
If the Florida bar determines that she acted improperly, she could be disbarred in the state.
The Department of Justice on Wednesday proposed a change to federal regulations for state bar investigations of its attorneys. The proposal was posted to the Federal Register and said, “Before a current or former Department lawyer may participate in any investigative steps initiated by the bar disciplinary authority … in response to allegations that a current or former Department attorney violated an ethics rule while engaging in that attorney’s federal duties, the Department will have the right to review the allegations in the first instance and shall request that the bar disciplinary authority suspend any parallel investigations until the completion of the Department’s review.”
The rule change is necessary because “over the past several years, political activists have weaponized the bar complaint and investigation process,” the memo said.
Halligan, who had no previous trial experience, was appointed to replace Erik Siebert, who resigned the position in September amid concerns he would be forced out for failing to prosecute James.
Interim U.S. attorneys can only stay in their positions for 120 days, and Siebert had already exceeded his time without confirmation.
