Monique Pardo Pope blames aides, ChatGPT for false claim about Billy Corben. He says that’s no excuse

Lawyer and ex-Miami Beach Commission candidate Monique Pardo Pope is asking the Florida Bar to end an inquiry into whether she defamed documentarian Billy Corben last year. The problem, Corben contends, is that she’s guilty and isn’t even denying it.

In a Jan. 7 letter to the Florida Bar, which opened a disciplinary file on her in late November, Pardo Pope sought a dismissal of the complaint, which stemmed from a false statement she made about Corben’s legal record in September.

But Corben, in a rebuttal filed this week, argues Pardo Pope admitted the core facts of his complaint, still hasn’t apologized or retracted her statement, and is trying to shift the blame to gossip, her campaign aides and ChatGPT misinformation.

The dispute began after Corben, an award-winning documentarian, published a video revealing that she is the daughter of Manuel Pope, a Nazi-loving serial killer who was executed in 2012, and highlighted now-deleted social media posts in which she praised her father as her “hero,” “eternal best friend,” and “guiding light in the sky.”

In September, Pardo Pope responded to a Miami New Times inquiry about Corben’s video and commentary with a statement that included a pointed attack: Corben, she said, “has made a career of slinging mud, which has even resulted in losing a defamation case.”

But that statement was false. The only defamation case involving him ended with his side securing a six-figure fee award under Florida’s anti-SLAPP law — the opposite of “losing.” Corben promptly sent Pardo Pope a cease-and-desist letter demanding she stop repeating the claim.

Two months later, after she had still failed to retract her false statement, Corben filed a complaint with the Florida Bar, citing professionalism rules that prohibit dishonesty and misrepresentation and discourage lawyers from disparaging others in law-related communications.

The Bar opened a disciplinary file Nov. 25 — a step that occurs in a minority of complaints — and gave Pardo Pope a Dec. 10 deadline to respond. Her attorney, Richard Greenberg, sent the Bar a 12-page response on Jan. 7, contending the false statement was an honest mistake made under extraordinary pressure, not an ethical violation warranting discipline.

The statement “was not authored, drafted, or approved by Ms. Pope in isolation,” Greenberg wrote, describing a campaign communications process with multiple inputs, including a ChatGPT query misspelling Corben’s name as “Corbin,” which produced an incorrect result saying he lost a defamation suit in 2022 to former Miami Mayor Francis Suarez.

She did not originate the claim, which she did not know at the time was false, he wrote, and therefore she did not act with disregard for the truth or any intent to mislead, defame or disparage Corben.

Pardo Pope’s response paints Corben’s Bar filing not as an effort to hold a defamer accountable but as a “politically motivated effort to retaliate against and silence a candidate through coordinated media pressure and misuse of the Bar grievance process.”

Greenberg urged the Bar to dismiss the matter “without any further action.”

Corben’s rebuttal, submitted Jan. 27, disputes that framing and attacks Pardo Pope’s explanations as insufficient and alarming.

He noted that, in her response, Pardo Pope does not deny making a false statement and has not apologized or retracted it. And it doesn’t matter where the statement originated, either, he wrote, since she delivered the statement to the press herself, using her law firm’s email account and signature.

“In essence,” Corben wrote, Pardo Pope’s response says: “Yeah, I did it. It’s chisme (gossip) and ChatGPT’s fault. The Bar can’t do anything about it. And oh, by the way. I’m emotionally unwell.”

That last bit referred to a significant portion of Greenberg’s letter devoted to Pardo Pope’s mental health and the impact the negative attention Corben’s video and subsequent reporting had on her emotional and psychological well-being.

As a survivor of childhood trauma — Pardo Pope was 4 when her father committed his murders — Greenberg wrote that she continues to experience symptoms consistent with post-traumatic stress disorder. The impact it will have on her family and home life “remains uncertain.”

After Corben’s video was published, the response said, Pardo Pope feared for her children’s safety and asked for police security at her home — a claim corroborated by text screenshots Greenberg submitted.

Corben said Pardo Pope’s “invocation of her mental health struggles” does not excuse her misconduct. It does, he continued, “raise serious concerns that go beyond the scope” of his complaint, including whether she is fit “to continue practicing law, particularly cases involving children as a Guardian ad Litem.”

Pardo Pope repeatedly referenced her work as a guardian ad litem while campaigning last year, citing it as proof of her steady temperament and inclination toward public service. She also advertises family and children’s law as significant aspects of her law firm. Miami-Dade County Clerk records indicate that approximately 92% of her cases have concerned debt collection for banks.

Greenberg wrote that the campaign attempted a “secondary review” using AI research that appeared to corroborate the belief that Corben lost a defamation suit. Any error, he added, was unintentional and produced in a fast-moving environment.

Corben fired back that using ChatGPT as a defense is “highly problematic,” citing a 2024 Florida Bar ethics opinion that emphasizes lawyers remain responsible for their work product and professional judgment — including the duty to verify information generated by AI tools.

He also cited several instances in which lawyers in Florida and elsewhere were disciplined for using AI that generated spurious case citations.

“(What) Ms. Pardo Pope’s response doesn’t say is equally telling. Nowhere does it contain a citation to any rule, or exception thereto, that excuses her from the specific professional and ethical obligations referenced in the complaint I filed against her,” Corben wrote.

“This matter could have presented a much different choice for the Bar had Ms. Pardo Pope simply followed her stunning admissions with an apology and a retraction. But for reasons known only to her and her counsel, Ms. Pardo Pope resorted to the tired old political tradition of playing the victim and attacking the messenger.”

Pardo Pope, a Republican, lost a runoff last month for the Miami Beach Commission’s Group 1 seat.

The Bar can dismiss Corben’s complaint, issue guidance or pursue further investigation.