The District of Columbia’s attorney disciplinary body has filed ethics charges against Ed Martin, a senior Justice Department official in the Trump administration, as the department seeks to curb the role of state bar associations in policing federal attorneys.
The complaint, submitted Friday to the D.C. Court of Appeals Board on Professional Responsibility, accuses Martin of professional misconduct tied to actions he took while briefly serving as U.S. attorney for the district.
The case escalates a broader clash between the DOJ and state bar authorities. Attorney General Pam Bondi last week proposed a policy that, if approved, would require state disciplinary bodies to pause investigations into current or former DOJ attorneys until the department first conducts its own internal review.
Under the proposal, the DOJ would ask bar associations to “suspend any parallel investigations” during that process. DOJ officials warned they could take further steps to enforce the rule if it is finalized, arguing that outside disciplinary bodies have increasingly been used to target federal lawyers over partisan differences.
On Tuesday, DOJ officials blasted the D.C. Bar’s action against Martin as politically motivated.
“The DC Bar is such a blatantly Democrat-run political organization,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement. “Thank God I’m not a member, and trust me, I never will be.”
DOJ spokeswoman Emily Covington said the disciplinary body was attempting to “target and punish those serving President Trump while refusing to investigate or act against actual ethical violations that were committed by Biden and Obama administration attorneys.” Critics have cited as examples former special counsel Jack Smith and former U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves, who directed much of his office’s attention to prosecuting Trump supporters from the riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
Covington pointed out the imbalance of attorney discipline measures across the district and for other state bar associations, noting “DC-barred members of Biden’s special counsel were found to have acted against President Trump without legal authority and in clear violation of the Constitution, yet the bar did nothing.”
She added that the Biden administration‘s former pardon attorney, Elizabeth Oyer, “clearly violated her ethical duty by publicly commenting on privileged communications she had while acting in her official capacity, but again, nothing from the bar.”
Martin faces two counts of misconduct, including allegations that he violated his oath of office, engaged in unauthorized communications with a judge, and interfered with the administration of justice.
The case stems from a February letter Martin sent to Georgetown Law School during his tenure as the capital’s top federal prosecutor. In the letter, Martin accused the law school of promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and warned that his office would refuse to offer internships, fellowships, or employment to Georgetown students until the school responded.
The disciplinary complaint alleges Martin imposed the sanctions without explaining what specific conduct by the law school was improper and argues he “knew or should have known” the action violated the First and Fifth amendments.
The ethics inquiry began after retired Judge Phillip Argento filed a complaint against Martin over the Georgetown letter.
According to the filing, Martin later contacted the chief judge and senior judges of the D.C. Court of Appeals, requesting a meeting to discuss the disciplinary inquiry and copied the White House counsel on the correspondence. The chief judge declined, telling Martin it would be improper to discuss the matter outside the normal disciplinary process.
Martin then asked the court to suspend the disciplinary attorney handling the case and dismiss the complaint, according to the filing.
If Martin were ultimately found to have violated ethics rules, penalties could range from reprimand to disbarment, though such proceedings often take years to resolve.
Similar disciplinary proceedings against Jeffrey Clark, a former DOJ official from Trump’s first term in office, over his role in efforts to investigate problems with the 2020 election, remain unresolved, according to court records.
FLORIDA BAR DENIES INVESTIGATION INTO EX-US ATTORNEY LINDSAY HALLIGAN
The dispute follows confusion last week involving another Trump Justice Department lawyer. The Florida Bar last week said it mistakenly informed a complainant that it was investigating former U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan after a watchdog group filed an ethics complaint tied to prosecutions she oversaw.
Florida Bar officials later clarified that no investigation into Halligan is pending.