Senate Democrats file complaint against DC US attorney Ed Martin

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have filed a formal complaint against D.C. U.S. attorney Ed Martin with the District of Columbia’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel, accusing him of dismissing criminal charges against his own clients and threatening prosecution against government employees to intimidate them.

“We write to express our grave concern about actions taken by Edward Robert Martin, Jr. that may constitute professional misconduct under the D.C. Rules of Professional Conduct,” wrote Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The letter, signed by all ten Democrats on the Judiciary panel, asks for the disciplinary counsel, which is overseen by the D.C. Court of Appeals to investigate whether Martin, a member of the D.C. Bar, violated rules of professional conduct.

“When a government lawyer, particularly one entrusted with a leadership role in the nation’s foremost law enforcement agency, commits serious violations of professional conduct, it undermines the integrity of our justice system and erodes public confidence in it,” they wrote.

Specifically, the lawmakers say that Martin while in private practice served as defense counsel in several cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, before personally submitting a motion to dismiss felony and misdemeanor counts against Joseph Padilla and failing to recuse himself from the case as acting U.S. attorney creating “an impermissible conflict of interest and the appearance of impropriety by using his new government office to favor his client.”

They say Martin also appeared as defense counsel for another Jan. 6 defendant, William Chrestman, a member of the Proud Boys’ Kansas City chapter, who was sentenced to four and a half years in prison after pleading guilty to obstruction of an official proceeding and threatening a federal officer.

Democrats say Martin only moved to withdraw his representation of Chrestman after initiating an internal review of the charges against his client, creating “an appearance of impropriety.”

Senate Democrats say there is also evidence that Martin communicated directly with Jan. 6 defendants who were not his clients after his appointment as interim U.S. attorney, including William Pope, who was charged with a felony and four misdemeanors related to the attack on the Capitol.

They say that if Martin communicated directly with Pope, he “created the appearance of impropriety because he may be called as a witness for the defendant in a matter involving the office he currently leads."

They argue that Martin has violated the D.C. Bar’s prohibition on representing a client if the client may be adversely affected by the lawyer’s responsibilities to or interests in a third party.

“Under this rule, Mr. Martin cannot effectively represent the United States in taking any investigative or prosecutorial steps against Mr. Padilla, including steps favorable to Mr. Padilla, in the same matter in which he defended and still represented Mr. Padilla,” they wrote.

They say that Martin potentially violated the prohibition of any conduct that interferes with the administration of justice and that his representation of Padilla and Chrestman “creates an appearance of impropriety in any review or prosecutorial steps related to his office’s handling of obstruction charges against Jan. 6 defendants.

And his alleged communications with Pope likely prohibits an attorney’s involvement in a case in which they are likely to be a necessary witness, they argued.

In addition, Democratic senators are raising alarm over what they say are the “numerous extrajudicial statements” Martin has made threatening prosecution “with the apparent intent of intimidating government employees and chilling the speech of private citizens.”

They cite a Feb. 3 tweet and letter to Elon Musk, the leader of the Department of Government Efficiency, threatening to “pursue any and all legal action against anyone who impedes your work or threatens your people.”

They also point to a Feb. 14 tweet threatening former special counsel Jack Smith, who handled two criminal cases against President Trump before he won the 2024 election.

And they note a Feb. 19 announcement that the U.S. attorney’s office would investigate and prosecute alleged threats to government officials, including Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) because of his March 2020 statement at a rally in front of the Supreme Court that conservative Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh would “pay the price” for voting against abortion rights.

Martin has since dropped plans to investigate Schumer after concluding that his statements did not present a “true threat” that could be prosecuted.

“Mr. Martin’s conduct not only speaks to his fitness as a lawyer; his activities are part of a broader course of conduct by President Trump and his allies to undermine the traditional independence of Department of Justice Investigations and prosecutions and the rule of law,” the Democrats wrote.

They asked Office of Disciplinary Counsel to initiate an investigation and take “appropriate disciplinary proceedings,” and would appreciate “prompt attention to this sensitive matter.”

Martin’s office did not respond to a request for comment.