The watchdog group Campaign for Accountability (CfA) has filed complaints with the Virginia Bar to investigate Lindsey Halligan, the Florida-licensed attorney appointed by President Trump designated as the Interim US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Halligan is leading the administration’s mortgage fraud prosecution against New York Attorney General Letitia James, along with a separate prosecution of former FBI Director James Comey. Halligan replaced Erik Siebert, who resigned with the claims there was insufficient evidence to move forward with the indictments of James and Comey.
CfA claims Halligan “appears to have violated myriad Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct” including RPC 3.3(a)(1) (requiring candor to the Court); RPC 1.1 (requiring competence); RPC 3.8 (prohibiting the prosecution of a charge the prosecutor knows is not supported by probable cause); and RPC 8.4 (prohibiting conduct involving dishonesty, deceit, misrepresentation, or conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice). CfA also cited Halligan’s contact with Lawfare journalist Anna Bower to discuss and attempt to influence her coverage of the James prosecution violated DOJ regulations, Virginia District Court rules and RPC 3.6, prohibiting pretrial publicity.
Furthermore, the complaint cited a potential flouting of the Federal Record Act with Halligan using the Signal app to communicate with Bower and set their messaging to auto-delete after eight hours. A separate complaint about Halligan was filed with the Florida Bar.
CfA Executive Director Michelle Kuppersmith said, “It is difficult to overstate the damage wrought by Ms. Halligan’s actions. In addition to unjustly and vindictively inflicting direct personal harm on Mr. Comey and Ms. James, she is singlehandedly undermining—maybe irrevocably—the public’s confidence in the impartiality of the Department of Justice. Ms. Halligan appears to have violated numerous rules of professional conduct for lawyers. We are asking the Virginia and Florida Bars to investigate, making clear that a government appointment is not a hall pass for unethical behavior.”
