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Has Pam Bondi faced investigations or ethics probes related to her tenure as Florida Attorney General?
Executive summary
Pam Bondi has been the subject of multiple ethics complaints and calls for investigations tied to her conduct as both Florida attorney general and U.S. attorney general; over 70 legal experts filed a Florida Bar complaint in June 2025 alleging “serious professional misconduct,” and several subsequent petitions and filings sought to compel further probes [1] [2]. State courts and the Florida Bar have, in multiple items of reporting, pushed back on or declined to open certain probes while critics continue to press for review [3] [4].
1. High-profile June 2025 ethics complaint — who filed it and what it alleges
A coalition of more than 70 law professors, former judges and advocacy groups filed a formal ethics complaint in June 2025 urging the Florida Bar to investigate Bondi, accusing her of “serious professional misconduct” and alleging she sought to compel Department of Justice lawyers to violate ethical rules under the guise of “zealous advocacy” [1] [2]. The complaint singled out Bondi’s early directives at DOJ and cited personnel actions and memos that critics say forced or pressured career lawyers to resign or act unethically [2].
2. Multiple legal actors pushed the Florida Bar and courts to act
After the June complaint, other lawyers and lawmakers urged the Florida Supreme Court and the Florida Bar to investigate Bondi; filings and petitions asked the court to order the Bar to treat allegations against a sitting U.S. officer as within its investigatory obligations [5] [6]. Those efforts reflect a coordinated legal and political push from academics, former jurists and Democratic members of Congress to subject Bondi’s professional conduct to statebar scrutiny [2] [5].
3. Florida Bar and state high-court responses — limits and rejections
Reporting shows the Florida Bar has rejected at least some prior complaints on the ground that it “does not investigate or prosecute sitting officers appointed under the U.S.” government while they remain in office, and the Florida Supreme Court denied a petition asking it to order a Bar probe in an October action related to a separate petition [4] [3]. Legal reporting frames this as a practical and jurisdictional barrier: challengers can press allegations, but the Bar and courts have at times declined to take the next procedural step [3] [4].
4. Longstanding earlier ethics controversies from Bondi’s Florida tenure
Bondi’s time as Florida attorney general generated earlier ethics scrutiny — notably the 2013 episode involving a $25,000 contribution from the Trump Foundation to a pro-Bondi political committee and related inquiries by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW); reporting and historical summaries note state ethics panels cleared Bondi of violating Florida law in some past matters, but critics continue to cite those episodes as context for current complaints [7] [8]. Wikipedia’s profile and Britannica summarize some of those earlier controversies and clearances from state ethics panels [9] [8].
5. Competing narratives: accountability vs. limits of state oversight
Advocates pressing for investigation — law professors, former justices and watchdog groups — argue Bondi’s directives and personnel moves at DOJ show ethical breaches that warrant sanction [2] [1]. State bar officials and courts have pointed to legal doctrines and precedents limiting their ability to investigate sitting federal officers, creating an institutional tension: critics call for accountability; officials cite jurisdictional limits that have so far blocked full review [4] [3].
6. What the publicly available record does and does not show
Available reporting documents the filing of major ethics complaints, public letters urging investigation, and court filings seeking to compel Bar action — and it records the Florida Bar’s and Florida Supreme Court’s refusals or procedural limits in some instances [2] [3] [4] [6]. Available sources do not mention any completed disciplinary proceeding that resulted in sanctions against Bondi, nor do they report a concluded Florida Bar investigation that led to disbarment or suspension as of the cited items [3] [4].
7. Why this matters and what to watch next
The dispute is both legal and political: critics frame the complaints as protecting the rule of law and professional independence; supporters and some state authorities emphasize procedural limits on investigating sitting federal officers [2] [3]. Watch for (a) whether the Florida Bar or state courts change course and open a formal investigation, (b) any Department of Justice internal ethics reviews referenced in filings, and (c) reporting on whether complaintants pursue civil litigation or further petitions to the Florida Supreme Court — developments that would alter the current stalemate described in the available coverage [6] [5].
Limitations: this summary relies only on the provided documents and reporting; if you want, I can track additional contemporaneous news reports or official Florida Bar filings to see whether any new disciplinary action or formal finding has since emerged.