The disciplinary body for lawyers in the District of Columbia has filed ethics charges against Ed Martin, a senior Justice Department official in the Trump administration, accusing him of misconduct in seeking to punish Georgetown Law School, according to a filing.
Mr. Martin, who has spearheaded efforts by President Trump to use the Justice Department to punish the president’s perceived enemies, faces two counts of misconduct. The filing, submitted on Friday before the D.C. Court of Appeals Board on Professional Responsibility, is comparable to a civil lawsuit complaint in court and was signed by Hamilton P. Fox III, the disciplinary counsel for the D.C. bar.
Mr. Martin, who was forced to step down as the U.S. attorney in Washington because he did not have the Senate votes for confirmation, instead became the Justice Department’s pardon attorney. In that role, he has had far more access and influence in the White House than many of his predecessors.
The complaint is a significant escalation in the efforts to use state and local bars to punish lawyers in the Trump administration for purported violations of ethics rules in pursuit of the president’s aims. Last week, Attorney General Pam Bondi proposed a new rule to try to stall or delay bar associations from conducting such investigations into lawyers at the department.
Mr. Martin is accused of breaking several ethics rules for lawyers: violating his oath of office after swearing to support the Constitution, conducting unauthorized ex parte communications with a judge and “engaging in conduct that seriously interferes with the administration of justice.”
The Justice Department, in turn, accused the D.C. Bar of political motivations in seeking to discipline Mr. Martin, accusing it of unevenly applying its standards.
Emily Covington, a Justice Department spokeswoman, said the disciplinary body was seeking 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 is a clear indication of this partisan organization’s agenda.”
The maximum sanction in such a case is disbarment, but it can take many years to reach a conclusion. Disciplinary proceedings against Jeffrey Clark, a Justice Department official during the first Trump administration who was accused of dishonest conduct in his efforts to undo the results of the 2020 election, have yet to be resolved.
The disciplinary proceeding against Mr. Martin stems from an unusual letter he sent to Georgetown early in his brief tenure as the U.S. attorney for Washington.
The letter, dated February, accused Georgetown of teaching and promoting diversity, equity and inclusion. “Mr. Martin did not define ‘D.E.I.’ or specify what ideas Georgetown Law was teaching or promoting that the government deemed unacceptable,” the filing said, adding: “Without further explanation, and before even receiving a response, Mr. Martin announced in his Feb. 17 letter that he was imposing sanctions on Georgetown Law, its students or anyone affiliated with the school.” Mr. Martin noted that his office would not offer any applicants from Georgetown internships, fellowships or employment until the school responded.
“Mr. Martin knew or should have known that, as a government official, his conduct violated the First and Fifth Amendments of the Constitution of the United States,” the disciplinary complaint said.
A retired judge, Phillip Argento, filed the initial ethics complaint against Mr. Martin over his letter to Georgetown, prompting a disciplinary inquiry that has led to formal accusations of misconduct, according to the filing.
Instead of responding, the complaint states, Mr. Martin contacted the chief judge and the senior judges of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, complaining about the disciplinary lawyer’s “uneven behavior” and requesting a face-to-face meeting to “discuss this matter and find a way forward.” He also copied the White House counsel on the letter.
The chief judge, in response, told Mr. Martin that it would be improper to meet to discuss the issue and that any concerns should be raised through regular disciplinary procedures.
Instead, Mr. Martin asked the chief judge to immediately suspend the lawyer investigating him and dismiss the ethics case.
Devlin Barrett covers the Justice Department and the F.B.I. for The Times.
The post D.C. Bar Begins Disciplinary Proceedings Against Ed Martin appeared first on New York Times.
