Rep. Jamie Ruskin (D-MD), a top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, is asking Department of Justice inspectors to begin an investigation into D.C.'s interim US lawyer, Ed Martin.
“In seven weeks, Martin's list of constitutional, legally and ethically unprotectable behaviors has grown exponentially,” writes Ruskin.
“As the head of the office, Mr. Martin is responsible for enforcing the law faithfully and impartially. However, so far, the public report shows that he is unable to comply with these high ethical standards and may be in violation of DOJ's own regulations, federal law and the constitution.”
Martin, who was appointed to be appointed as a US lawyer, did not respond to a request for comment.
9 pages letterFrom Raskin, we details the series of actions that Martin took.
“Mr. Martin repeatedly used the power of his office to protect President Trump's political allies. Recently, Martin called the DCUS lawyers' office “President Trump's lawyers,” and said he was “prideful to fight to protect his leadership.”
Martin sent two letters to Sen. Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) to explain his comment more than four years ago that Republicans were set to face a “whirlwind” over the Supreme Court case that restricted abortions. That comment appears to have influenced the Storm of Operation, the name of Martin in the probe.
A letter from Martin to Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif) came after lawmakers held up a photo of Musk at the hearing and called him “D-‑-pic.”
Ruskin also raised concerns about the double expression of Martin in Jan. 6 defendant Joseph Padilla, which he represented, and dismissed the client's case while serving as a lawyer for the parties' records.
“Mr. Martin immediately filed a motion to dismiss Padilla's case in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, while still listed as Padilla's record lawyer in official capacity. Martin did not formally withdraw from his role as Padilla's defense attorney until two weeks later, February 5, 2025,” he wrote.
“Beyond this extraordinary act as an attorney for both the government and its criminal defendants, Martin also failed to generally reject himself in the January 6th case.”
Also directed by Martin Fired and Reassignment The prosecutor who worked in the January 6th case.
Ruskin also addressed the resignation of Dennis Chan, the top prosecutor at the office, who resigned after being asked to withdraw $2 billion in government grants if they feared there was not enough evidence.
“In his enthusiasm to implement President Trump's policy priorities to demolish and refund clean energy projects, Martin has called on prosecutors in his office to launch a fake investigation and inappropriately freeze,” Ruskin wrote.
“In an effort to pay $20 billion in grants for clean energy projects awarded under the GGRF, Mr. Martin has requested that the Criminal Division Chief of his office, Dennis Chen, launch a criminal investigation and freeze the contractor's outstanding assets without any possible causes of violations.”
Ruskin pointed out that Martin later filed a warrant request himself but was turned down by a judge who found that he was unable to demonstrate reasonable belief that the crime had occurred.
