FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) 鈥� The Florida Bar backtracked Friday on what it said was an erroneous earlier statement its representatives had made indicating that it had an , a former top federal prosecutor in Virginia who was named to the job by President Donald Trump .
A letter last month from a bar association representative to a nonpartisan watchdog group that had requested an ethics inquiry into Halligan over her conduct at the Justice Department said there was an 鈥渋nvestigation pending.鈥� Jennifer Krell Davis, a spokesperson for the Florida Bar, also said in an email to The Associated Press on Thursday that there was an 鈥渙pen file鈥� on Halligan but declined to comment further, 鈥渁s active Florida discipline cases are confidential.鈥�
On Friday, however, Davis issued a new statement saying, 鈥淭he Florida Bar wrote a letter to the complainant erroneously stating that there is a pending Bar investigation鈥� of Halligan. 鈥淭here is no such pending Bar investigation鈥� of Halligan.
She said the Florida Bar had received a complaint and was monitoring the 鈥渙ngoing legal proceedings underlying the complaint,鈥� but did not explain the conflicting statements on the existence of an investigation.
Halligan responded Friday evening to emails about the investigation with the message, 鈥淲here’s my apology?鈥�
The complaint from the Campaign for Accountability centers on Halligan鈥檚 brief but turbulent tenure as acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, historically one of the Justice Department鈥檚 most elite prosecution offices. A former White House aide under Trump with no prosecutorial experience, Halligan pursued cases against a pair of the president’s political appointees but resigned in January as multiple judges questioned the legitimacy of her appointment and cast doubt on her ability to remain in the job legally.
The nonprofit watchdog had requested a bar inquiry into whether Halligan had violated the rules of professional conduct. The complaint cited, among other things, Halligan’s against former FBI Director James Comey and the fact that she continued to hold herself out as acting U.S. attorney even after a judge concluded that her appointment violated rules governing the selection of federal prosecutors.
The organization posted on its website a letter dated Feb. 4 in which a Florida Bar representative told the group, 鈥淲e are aware of these developments and have been monitoring them closely. We already have an investigation pending.鈥�
On Friday, Michelle Kuppersmith, the executive director of the Campaign of Accountability, said the Bar had not told the organization that its earlier assertion was erroneous. She said it was 鈥渉ard to reconcile鈥� the Bar’s latest statement with the earlier letter.
鈥淚f there is no longer an investigation into Halligan, the question is why not, given that three judges indicated she engaged in conduct that appears to violate ethics rules,鈥� Kuppersmith said in a statement.
Bob Jarvis, a law professor at Nova Southeastern University and member of the Florida Bar, said the most likely reason for the reversal is that the initial confirmation of the investigation was unauthorized. That type of information isn鈥檛 normally made public until after a grievance committee makes an actual finding to move forward, he said. The reason is to prevent a baseless accusation from damaging someone鈥檚 reputation.
鈥淚 think somebody at the Florida Bar probably jumped the gun,鈥� Jarvis said.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a post on the social platform X on Friday that Halligan 鈥渘ot only did nothing wrong 鈥� she did a great job.鈥�
鈥淭he Florida Bar 鈥榠nvestigation鈥� of Lindsey Halligan is totally fake news,鈥� she added.
Halligan, who had served as one of Trump鈥檚 attorneys but had no experience as a federal prosecutor, after the Trump administration effectively forced out her predecessor, Erik Siebert, Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, another longtime Trump foe.
Halligan secured indictments against Comey and James but quickly ran into difficulty as lawyers for Comey raised questions about what they said were irregularities in the grand jury presentation of the case, including legal and factual errors that tainted the process. A judge in November scolded Halligan for including what he said was her suggestion to the grand jury that Comey did not have a Fifth Amendment right to not testify.
The Comey and James prosecutions were subsequently dismissed following a challenge by defense lawyers to Halligan’s appointment.
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Tucker reported from Washington. Associated Press writer David Fischer contributed from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
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