Democrats demand hearing for Trump’s top prosecutor in DC as he faces accusations of misconduct

President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the U.S. attorney’s office in D.C., a crucial federal court district, has faced several accusations of professional misconduct that have led Democrats to request he appear before the Senate for questioning.

Ed Martin, the interim U.S. attorney for D.C., has stirred up controversy in Washington since being nominated by the president in January – displaying a staunch commitment to protecting and carrying out Trump’s agenda by any means necessary.

Despite only holding the post on an interim basis for now, Martin has ordered mass firings for lawyers who brought charges against January 6 rioters, reportedly compared charges brought against rioters to Japanese internment camps, threatened to take action against those challenging DOGE’s work, and more.

In one tweet, Martin referred to his office as “President Trump’s lawyers (sic).”

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His conduct has raised alarm bells from people inside and outside the U.S. attorney’s office about Martin’s ability to lead the nonpartisan agency.

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are now asking Chairman Chuck Grassley for a hearing to question Martin on his nomination.

“He’s overtly political. He’s very pugnacious,” Paul Butler, a former federal prosecutor, told Bloomberg Law.

More than 100 former federal prosecutors who worked in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C. signed a letter expressing concerns over Martin, who they believe is “unworthy of the position, incapable of the task, and an affront to the singular pursuit of justice.”

A coalition of civil society and First Amendment organizations also flagged serious misgivings about Martin.

“Martin’s personal and professional conflicts of interest, as well as his willful disregard for the rules of professional conduct specifically for prosecutors, further cast his official actions as a U.S. Attorney in a deeply troubling light,” the coalition wrote.

The Independent has asked Martin’s office for comment.

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Martin, the former chairman of the Missouri Republican Party, has no federal prosecutorial experience – a deviation from decades of precedent when it comes to choosing a U.S. attorney.

He was a leader in the “Stop the Steal” movement, which sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Trump’s favor, and represented several defendants charged in the attack on the Capitol.

In an email to his office on Friday, he referred to the charges against those defendants as the “greatest failure of legal judgment” since the Japanese internment camps during World War II, according to Politico.

In that same email, he reportedly informed staff he intends to expand the investigation into the decision to bring charges against rioters as well as “leaks” that occurred during the Jan 6 prosecutions, which he claimed contributed to “misinformation” shared by the media. He did not specify the subject or substance of any such leaks, Politico reported.

While some have complained that Martin may have a conflict of interest in Jan 6 cases, the Office of Disciplinary Counsel declined to investigate as, while saying it was “unseemly” for Martin to appear for the DoJ in the matter, “there is no rule prohibiting lawyers from giving the appearance of impropriety.”

Senate Republicans haven’t voiced concerns about Martin, according to Bloomberg Law.

Martin is active on social media, often posting from his personal and professional accounts about the work his office is doing to assist Trump’s agenda. In one post, he shared a letter with Elon Musk promising to pursue legal actions against anyone who “impedes” his work.

Daniel Toomey, a former federal prosecutor who signed the letter expressing concern over Martin, told NBC News that he and other prosecutors were “appalled” when they began to learn about Martin.

“We have never, ever seen anything like this in the U.S. attorney’s office,” Toomey said.