Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, HOUSE NEWS—Representatives Min and Levin send letter alerting Florida Bar Association of AG Bondi’s potential misconduct, (May 7, 2025)

By Brandi O. Brown, J.D.

They believe Attorney General Pam Bondi may have engaged in misconduct that would violate the Florida Bar’s Rules of Professional Conduct.

In a letter sent last week to the Florida Bar Association, Representatives Dave Min (CA-47) and Mike Levin (CA-49), who are both attorneys, contend that Attorney General Pam Bondi may have engaged in misconduct violating the Florida Bar’s Rules of Professional Conduct. In their announcement about the letter, they explain that it highlights numerous instances of alleged apparent misconduct by AG Bondi, including her apparent approval of a bribery arrangement involving New York City Mayor Eric Adams, her apparent approval of “legally questionable positions and tactics in a case involving the deportation of Venezuelan nationals,” and statements by Bondi that likely undermine the judiciary and “potentially endanger federal and state judges.”

Undermining and endangering judges. Regarding the last allegation, Min and Levin point to several public statements made by Bondi that “appear designed to undermine the judiciary” and potentially endanger judges, including publicly accusing the Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, of "trying to protect terrorists who invaded our country over American citizens,” which is a statement “she knew or should have known to be false.”

Dugan arrest. They also note that “[f]ollowing the arrest of Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan for allegedly obstructing an immigrant arrest, Attorney General Bondi described specific judges as ‘deranged’ and attempted to characterize a wider swatch of the federal judiciary as ‘think[ing] [that] they are beyond and above the law’. She also stated that ‘[w]e are going to prosecute you, and we are prosecuting you’, which seems intended to impose a chilling effect on the separation of powers and judicial independence.”

“These statements are particularly concerning given the current climate of heightened threats against judges,” they add, “including Judge Boasberg. Attorney General Bondi must be aware that such inflammatory rhetoric could intensify these threats.”

Conduct rules potentially violated. The letter contends that Bondi’s conduct appears to violate several Florida Rules of Professional Conduct, including Rule 4-3.5 (seeking to influence a judge by means prohibited by law); Rule 4-3.6 (making extrajudicial statements likely to prejudice an adjudicative proceeding); Rule 4-8.4(c) (engaging in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation); and Rule 4-8.4(d) (engaging in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice).

In the past week, Rep. Min reports, he has also led letters calling on major law firms to explain their arrangements with the Trump administration.

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