Florida Bar quietly walks back investigation claim against ousted ex-Trump lawyer
Florida's bar association on Friday said it “erroneously” announced that Lindsey Halligan was under an ethics probe, The Hill reported Friday.
Halligan was President Donald Trump's former attorney and appointed by him as interim U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia to bring criminal cases against his enemies, which was objected to by longtime prosecutors.
After leaving the U.S. attorney's office in January following a judge's ruling that she had not been lawfully appointed, her cases against Trump's adversaries — including former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James — were dismissed. Florida's bar association had reportedly sent a letter the previous month indicating that Halligan was under investigation.
A spokesperson for the Florida Bar Association told The Hill that there was no pending investigation into Halligan.
“In response to an inquiry from a complainant, The Florida Bar wrote a letter to the complainant erroneously stating that there is a pending Bar investigation of member Lindsay Halligan [SIC],” Jennifer Krell Davis, director of communications for the state bar, said in a statement.
“There is no such pending Bar investigation of Lindsay Halligan [SIC],” Krell Davis said. “In this case, The Florida Bar received a complaint against Lindsay Halligan [SIC] and, consistent with standard practice, the Bar is monitoring the ongoing legal proceedings underlying the complaint.”
The comment from Florida's bar association follows a report Thursday from The New York Times that Halligan was facing potential disbarment and that complaints in both Virginia and Florida had originated from a watchdog group in February.