A senior Washington, D.C., Bar disciplinary official withdrew from an ethics investigation against U.S. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin after a series of inflammatory social media posts targeting conservatives, Supreme Court justices, and President Donald Trump resurfaced online.
Jack Metzler, a senior assistant disciplinary lawyer with the D.C. Office of Disciplinary Counsel, stepped away from the Martin investigation over the weekend, according to a court filing. The decision to withdraw came amid mounting scrutiny over his alleged posts on X and Bluesky, some of which have been deleted, that raise questions about the impartiality of the D.C. Bar’s disciplinary process.
— Stanley E. Woodward, Jr. (@ASGWoodward) May 17, 2026
Screenshots circulating online show Metzler mocking Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in multiple posts. In one 2023 message, Metzler wrote, “How do you solve a problem like Alito?”
In another, he called it “embarrassing for Christianity” that Alito was invited to speak at Franciscan University of Steubenville.
Other posts criticized Justice Clarence Thomas, conservative activist Leonard Leo, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Trump, including one during the Wagner Group uprising in Russia stating, “Trump so jealous of Russia’s coup rn.”
The posts were highlighted in a recent Daily Signal opinion article by Heritage Foundation legal fellow Zack Smith, who argued Metzler’s conduct compromised the appearance of neutrality required for bar prosecutors.
Smith also pointed to a June repost Metzler shared from another attorney encouraging opponents of Trump to use “whatever power we have” to resist the administration, even if it damaged careers or led to prison.
Metzler’s withdrawal allows for disciplinary counsel Hamilton Fox III, another lawyer who has been accused by Trump allies of maintaining a partisan animus against lawyers in the administration, to take over in his place.
The sudden movement in the Martin inquiry comes after the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against the D.C. Bar last week over the disciplinary proceedings brought against Martin and former DOJ official Jeffrey Clark. Both men are Trump allies who are facing Bar authorities over alleged misconduct tied to current administration policies and an ethics dispute surrounding past efforts to investigate the 2020 election, respectively.
Clark already faced disciplinary charges stemming from Trump’s post-2020 orders for DOJ leadership to investigate fraud allegations. He previously drafted a letter to Georgia lawmakers suggesting the department had identified “significant concerns” about the election, though the letter was never actually sent. The D.C. Bar later recommended Clark be disbarred on July 31 last year.
Martin, who last year worked as the acting U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., was informed in March he was under disciplinary scrutiny over letters he sent while with the DOJ to Georgetown University warning the school that the Trump administration could reconsider relationships with the institution if it continued diversity, equity, and inclusion practices that he argued may violate federal law.
DOJ ACCUSES DC BAR AUTHORITY OF WEAPONIZING DISCIPLINE AGAINST FEDERAL LAWYERS
Metzler’s decision is notable as his withdrawal only came after the DOJ sued the D.C. Office of Disciplinary Counsel, accusing it of “weaponizing state bar discipline” against executive branch lawyers associated with Trump, and after Smith flagged his online footprint.
“The D.C. Bar will no longer be permitted to probe sensitive Executive Branch deliberations and target Executive Branch officials with whom they happen to politically disagree,” Associate Deputy Attorney General Stanley Woodward said after the lawsuit was filed.