FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Lindsey Halligan, a former White House aide to President Donald Trump who as Virginia’s top federal prosecutor pursued cases against the president’s opponents but ultimately left the job after her appointment was deemed illegal, faces an investigation by the Florida Bar.
The Campaign for Accountability, a nonprofit watchdog organization that sought an investigation into the bar, posted a letter on its website in which a representative of the Florida Bar confirmed that the organization had an investigation pending. A Florida Bar spokesman confirmed to The Associated Press that there is an open file on Halligan, but declined to comment further because the disciplinary cases are confidential.
Halligan did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the investigation.
The complaint centers on Halligan’s short but tumultuous tenure as acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, which was historically one of the Justice Department’s most elite and prestigious prosecutorial offices.
Halligan, who has served as one of Trump’s lawyers but has no prior experience as a federal prosecutor, was appointed in September after the Trump administration effectively forced her predecessor, Eric Seibert, to resign, amid pressure to bring charges against two of Trump’s political opponents: former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Halligan obtained the indictments but faced immediate difficulty as Comey’s lawyers raised questions about a series of what they said were irregularities in the grand jury’s presentation of the case, including legal and factual errors that tainted the process. A judge rebuked Halligan in November for “fundamental errors of law,” including what he said was her suggestion to the grand jury that Comey did not have a Fifth Amendment right not to testify in the case.
A different judge later dismissed the prosecutions of Comey and James after concluding that Halligan’s appointment by the Justice Department was illegal. Halligan left his position in January.
The bar complaint restates that chronology and also suggests that Halligan may have violated the rules of professional conduct by continuing to represent herself in court filings as the acting U.S. attorney for the district after a judge ruled that she was serving in that position illegally.
“In this manner, Ms. Halligan appears to have issued false or misleading communications regarding herself and her services,” the complaint said.
Tucker reported from Washington. Associated Press writer David Fisher contributed from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
This article was generated from an automated news feed without any modifications to the text.
