AG Andrea Campbell called Diana DiZoglio’s personal cell phone a day after an SJC justice moved the legislative audit legal case to the full court, a call that the auditor alleges violates the state’s professional conduct rules.

DiZoglio’s fight with Campbell is steaming ahead, even as the attorney general claims that there’s a “path forward” for the voter-approved audit of the state Legislature, over 15 months after 72% of the state signed off on the ballot measure.

DiZoglio’s office argues that Campbell’s attempt to call the auditor on her personal cell phone violates Rule 4.2 of the Massachusetts Rules of Professional Conduct, which prohibits lawyers from communicating directly about a case with an individual represented by another attorney without consent.

“The Attorney General is our state’s top law enforcement officer and should follow the Rules of Professional Conduct,” DiZoglio said in a statement on Wednesday. “I will not participate in dark, shadow conversations with the AG about this lawsuit.”

“That she is trying to get me to speak with her alone, via private cell phone, without my legal counsel present, is unacceptable,” the auditor added.

Campbell’s office is firing back at DiZoglio’s claim, which it says is a “false and baseless accusation.”

“If the Auditor is interested in a solution,” the office said in a statement shared with the Herald, “the AG is available to speak with her or the Auditor’s staff can speak with our office – but as it stands, her office refuses to engage with us directly on a path forward.”

DiZoglio and Campbell have been locked in a legal tug-of-war since voters approved the audit in November 2024.

Siding with legislative leadership, Campbell has claimed that DiZoglio has not answered basic questions on the scope of the legislative audit. The AG argues that the auditor’s review may also violate the state Constitution.

In February, DiZoglio sued House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka for refusing to comply with the audit. The auditor is asking the SJC to allow her to appoint an outside attorney, as Campbell is representing the top Beacon Hill Democrats.

DiZoglio spotlighted Campbell’s attempt to talk with her on her personal cell phone after the AG appeared on GBH’s Boston Public Radio on Wednesday. The auditor also released emails between the two offices regarding the call.

In her radio segment, Campbell admitted to calling the auditor after seeing her at a recent event in Worcester and that she had yet to hear back from DiZoglio. The AG said the message that she is trying to convey to the auditor is that “there’s a pathway forward.”

Speaking at an event on March 16, DiZoglio said, “I have only asked for financial receipts and state contracts. There is nothing unconstitutional about …  getting access to that information.”

Campbell argues DiZoglio has “changed” her stance on the audit’s scope.

Deputy Auditor Michael Leung-Tat expressed his concerns about Campbell’s call to DiZoglio in an email on Monday to Assistant Attorney General Anne Sterman and First Assistant Attorney General Pat Moore.

Leung-Tat emphasized that the last time DiZoglio and Campbell spoke via phone was allegedly in November 2023, when the AG informed the auditor of her support of the legislative audit.

“They don’t have a relationship beyond our office’s official communications,” Leung-Tat wrote, “and, as you know, official business between our offices is conducted at the staff level. … it appears that the Attorney General was calling the Auditor about the pending litigation before the SJC.”

“As you are aware,” the deputy auditor added, “we have been engaged with your office seeking assistance in our efforts to audit the Legislature since 2023, so it is curious that the Attorney General only just now decided to call.

In an email reply, Moore said there was “nothing unethical” about Campbell’s call and that the AGO was “surprised to see” the auditor’s “unfounded assertion.”

“The Auditor has also used her time in those forums make false allegations against the Attorney General and officers of every other branch of state government, recently including judges,” Moore wrote. “Having now heard multiple variations of these comments, the Attorney General felt it appropriate to reach to talk with the Auditor.”

After multiple exchanges back and forth, Moore refuted Leung-Tat’s claims that DiZoglio has answered Campbell’s questions to help the legislative audit proceed. The first assistant AG added that the office “takes pride in our professionalism.”

“We do not, just to pick one example,” Moore wrote, “claim that every state agency funded by legislative appropriation is corrupt; nor that the courts adjudicating our cases are.”

“Nor do we take exception to conferring with those against whom we are litigating,” he added. “We do that every day.”

The arrival of spring means Easter is almost here – it falls on Sunday, April 5, this year.