Watchdog Files Bar Complaint Against Interim US Attorney Lindsey Halligan
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 11, 2025
Contact: Michelle Kuppersmith, mkuppersmith@campaignforaccountability.org, 202.780.5750
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Campaign for Accountability (CfA) filed a bar complaint asking the Florida Bar and the Virginia Bar to investigate Lindsey Halligan, a Florida-licensed attorney who Donald Trump designated as Interim United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. By using the power of her office to prosecute former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James despite a dearth of evidence that either committed any crimes, Ms. Halligan appears to have violated myriad Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC) and Rules Regulating The Florida Bar (RRTFB).
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.”
Mr. Comey, as FBI director, oversaw the agency’s investigation into Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and its alleged ties to Russia. Ms. James, as New York Attorney General, launched a civil fraud case against Mr. Trump and his company in 2022. Furious about both matters, President Trump has viewed Mr. Comey and Ms. James among his top political enemies and has openly called for retaliatory investigations against them. Trump’s initial nominee for United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Erik Siebert, investigated both but ultimately refused to indict either after concluding the evidence did not support prosecution. Last week, Federal Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick criticized the Comey prosecution as a case of “indict first, investigate later.”
Learning President Trump planned to fire him for refusing to indict Mr. Comey or Ms. James, Mr. Siebert resigned, and Mr. Trump announced one of his former personal attorneys, Ms. Halligan, as Mr. Siebert’s replacement. Willing to oblige President Trump’s demands when no career prosecutors would do so, Ms. Halligan indicted Mr. Comey within days of her appointment, and Ms. James soon thereafter.
Through her actions in indicting Mr. Comey and Ms. James, Ms. Halligan may have violated numerous 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).
Additionally, by contacting Lawfare journalist Anna Bower to discuss and attempt to influence her coverage of the James prosecution, Ms. Halligan appears to have violated DOJ regulations, Virginia District Court rules and RPC 3.6, prohibiting pretrial publicity. Further, by communicating with Ms. Bower through Signal and setting the messages to auto-delete after 8 hours, Ms. Halligan also appears to have violated the Federal Records Act, which requires the preservation of records – including text messages – regarding official government action. Flouting the FRA also may violate RPC 8.4.
Ms. Kuppersmith continued: “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.”
Campaign for Accountability is a nonpartisan, nonprofit watchdog organization that uses research, litigation, and aggressive communications to expose misconduct and malfeasance in public life and hold those who act at the expense of the public good accountable for their actions.