DC Bar investigating Ed Martin amid DOJ fight over attorney discipline
The District of Columbia Bar has filed ethics charges against Ed Martin, a former U.S. attorney for the District and a senior DOJ official in the Trump administration, as part of a broader clash over how federal prosecutors are disciplined.
– The complaint accuses Martin of professional misconduct tied to actions during his tenure as U.S. attorney, including two counts that cover violating his oath, engaging in unauthorized communications with a judge, and interfering with the administration of justice.
– The charges stem from a February letter Martin sent to Georgetown Law school criticizing the school’s diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and warning that his office would withhold internships, fellowships, or employment until the school responded.
– The board alleges Martin imposed sanctions without detailing what conduct by the law school was improper, arguing the action violated the First and fifth Amendments.
– The ethics inquiry began after retired Judge Phillip Argento filed a complaint about the Georgetown letter. Martin reportedly sought meetings with the chief judge and senior judges of the D.C. Court of Appeals and copied the White House counsel; the chief judge declined to discuss the matter outside the disciplinary process.
– The case appears amid a DOJ push, championed by Attorney General pam Bondi’s policy proposal, to pause state bar investigations into current or former DOJ attorneys while the department conducts its internal review, a move DOJ says would curb politically motivated investigations.
– DOJ officials have criticized the D.C. Bar’s action as politically motivated, with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and DOJ spokeswoman Emily Covington arguing that state bars have targeted federal lawyers for partisan reasons and that some past actions by Biden administration officials went unpunished.
– If Martin is found to have violated ethics rules, penalties could range from a reprimand to disbarment, though such proceedings typically take years.
– The article notes related but unresolved matters,including similar discipline concerns involving other former DOJ officials,and mentions a separate Florida Bar incident where confusion over an investigation into Lindsey Halligan occurred.
the DC Bar’s charges against ed Martin occur within a larger dispute over how,and by whom,federal prosecutors should be ethically overseen and disciplined.
DC Bar targets Ed Martin amid DOJ bid for oversight of attorney discipline
The District of Columbia’s attorney disciplinary body has filed ethics charges against Ed Martin, a senior Justice Department official in the Trump administration, as the department seeks to curb the role of state bar associations in policing federal attorneys.
The complaint, submitted Friday to the D.C. Court of Appeals Board on Professional Responsibility, accuses Martin of professional misconduct tied to actions he took while briefly serving as U.S. attorney for the district.
The case escalates a broader clash between the DOJ and state bar authorities. Attorney General Pam Bondi last week proposed a policy that, if approved, would require state disciplinary bodies to pause investigations into current or former DOJ attorneys until the department first conducts its own internal review.
Under the proposal, the DOJ would ask bar associations to “suspend any parallel investigations” during that process. DOJ officials warned they could take further steps to enforce the rule if it is finalized, arguing that outside disciplinary bodies have increasingly been used to target federal lawyers over partisan differences.
On Tuesday, DOJ officials blasted the D.C. Bar’s action against Martin as politically motivated.
“The DC Bar is such a blatantly Democrat-run political organization,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement. “Thank God I’m not a member, and trust me, I never will be.”
DOJ spokeswoman Emily Covington said the disciplinary body was attempting to “target and punish those serving President Trump while refusing to investigate or act against actual ethical violations that were committed by Biden and Obama administration attorneys.” Critics have cited as examples former special counsel Jack Smith and former U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves, who directed much of his office’s attention to prosecuting Trump supporters from the riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
Covington pointed out the imbalance of attorney discipline measures across the district and for other state bar associations, noting “DC-barred members of Biden’s special counsel were found to have acted against President Trump without legal authority and in clear violation of the Constitution, yet the bar did nothing.”
She added that the Biden administration‘s former pardon attorney, Elizabeth Oyer, “clearly violated her ethical duty by publicly commenting on privileged communications she had while acting in her official capacity, but again, nothing from the bar.”
Martin faces two counts of misconduct, including allegations that he violated his oath of office, engaged in unauthorized communications with a judge, and interfered with the administration of justice.
The case stems from a February letter Martin sent to Georgetown Law School during his tenure as the capital’s top federal prosecutor. In the letter, Martin accused the law school of promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and warned that his office would refuse to offer internships, fellowships, or employment to Georgetown students until the school responded.
The disciplinary complaint alleges Martin imposed the sanctions without explaining what specific conduct by the law school was improper and argues he “knew or should have known” the action violated the First and Fifth amendments.
The ethics inquiry began after retired Judge Phillip Argento filed a complaint against Martin over the Georgetown letter.
According to the filing, Martin later contacted the chief judge and senior judges of the D.C. Court of Appeals, requesting a meeting to discuss the disciplinary inquiry and copied the White House counsel on the correspondence. The chief judge declined, telling Martin it would be improper to discuss the matter outside the normal disciplinary process.
Martin then asked the court to suspend the disciplinary attorney handling the case and dismiss the complaint, according to the filing.
If Martin were ultimately found to have violated ethics rules, penalties could range from reprimand to disbarment, though such proceedings often take years to resolve.
Similar disciplinary proceedings against Jeffrey Clark, a former DOJ official from Trump’s first term in office, over his role in efforts to investigate problems with the 2020 election, remain unresolved, according to court records.
FLORIDA BAR DENIES INVESTIGATION INTO EX-US ATTORNEY LINDSAY HALLIGAN
The dispute follows confusion last week involving another Trump Justice Department lawyer. The Florida Bar last week said it mistakenly informed a complainant that it was investigating former U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan after a watchdog group filed an ethics complaint tied to prosecutions she oversaw.
Florida Bar officials later clarified that no investigation into Halligan is pending.
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