Outgoing interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Ed Martin disclosed he is under investigation by a D.C. ethics panel in a goodbye email sent to staff as he prepares to take on a new role at the Justice Department (DOJ).
Martin stepped down this week after his nomination for the post hit a roadblock with some GOP senators. He has since been tapped by President Trump to lead the new Weaponization Working Group at the DOJ.
Now slated by Trump for a more far-reaching role at Justice, Martin alerted staff that he is under investigation by the D.C. Bar’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel (ODC), which reviews complaints filed against attorneys in the city.
Martin appeared to attach a complaint before the board and referenced the office’s leader, Hamilton “Phil” Fox.
“I am taking Mr. Fox head on. His conduct is personally insulting and professionally unacceptable,” Martin wrote in an email reviewed by The Hill.
He also blasted the office as well as judges, writing, “It is an outrage how they treat us and I will continue the fight against the weaponization of our law licenses against us.”
Martin was facing at least two requests for ethics investigations made to the ODC.
A letter from Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and fellow Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee laid out a series of actions from Martin, noting that he remained the attorney of record for one of the Jan. 6 defendants he represented in private practice while dismissing his case as the interim U.S. attorney.
“By not recusing himself from this matter, Mr. Martin created an impermissible conflict of interest and appearance of impropriety by using his new government office to favor his client, whom he was defending from the very charges he sought to dismiss,” Durbin wrote.
Martin also oversaw the firing and reassigning of prosecutors who worked on Jan. 6 cases.
Durbin’s letter also noted Martin’s social media posts to Elon Musk, pledging to take action against those who “even acted simply unethically” in dealings with the Department of Government Efficiency efforts.
A request from the group Demand Progress made similar arguments.
It’s not clear which of the requests Martin was referencing. Durbin’s office did not respond to request for comment.
While Demand Progress received a response from Fox’s office asking for more information, the group indicated its request has not yet been formally docketed — a contrast to the docketed case number referenced by Martin.
Other lawmakers have also asked for investigations into Martin through the Office of the Inspector General at the Justice Department.
Martin made a number of remarkable moves during his short tenure in the post, including igniting investigations into two Democratic lawmakers.
Martin is set to take on multiple roles at the Justice Department, including serving as the U.S. Pardon Attorney. His predecessor, Liz Oyer, said she was fired shortly after she declined to recommend actor Mel Gibson have his gun rights restored.
“So in the spirit of that role, please pardon me if anything I have done has wronged you,” he wrote in the goodbye email.
Martin also said earlier this week he plans to use the role to investigate pardons given by former President Biden.
“I do think that the Biden pardons need some scrutiny,” Martin said during a press conference. “And they need scrutiny because we want pardons to matter and to be accepted and to be something that’s used correctly. So I do think we’re going to take a hard look.”
Martin’s goodbye email also referenced that he was recently spit on during an interview the same day that another passerby approached him and told him “you’re great.”
“Somewhere in between is the truth, I suppose,” he said.
Trump has said former Fox News host and former judge Jeanine Pirro would take over Martin’s role as U.S. Attorney for D.C.
Source: The Hill