The Florida Bar has stated that it “erroneously” informed a watchdog group that an ethics investigation was underway into Lindsey Halligan, a former interim US attorney appointed by Donald Trump. The bar’s spokesperson, Jennifer Krell Davis, said on Friday that “there is no such pending bar investigation” and that the group was merely “monitoring the ongoing legal proceedings” related to a complaint.
The confusion arose after the Campaign for Accountability, a non-profit watchdog, received a February letter from Florida Bar counsel Carlos A. Leon stating, “We already have an investigation pending.” The group had complained that Halligan violated ethical rules by falsely claiming to be a US attorney after her appointment was ruled unlawful.
Halligan served as interim US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia in September, despite having no prosecutorial experience. She oversaw indictments against New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey, but a federal judge dismissed both cases in November, ruling that Halligan’s appointment was unlawful because her predecessor had already served the 120-day limit for interim appointments.
The Campaign for Accountability’s executive director, Michelle Kuppersmith, expressed difficulty reconciling the bar’s retraction with the earlier letter, questioning why no investigation exists given court findings that “indicated she engaged in conduct that appears to violate ethics rules.”
