Justice Department official Ed Martin accused of ethics violations for
letter to Georgetown dean
[March 11, 2026]
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
WASHINGTON (AP) — The office that enforces ethics standards for
attorneys in the nation's capital has accused Justice Department
official Ed Martin of professional misconduct for a threatening letter
that he sent to Georgetown Law School’s dean last year, when Martin was
the top federal prosecutor for Washington, D.C.
Martin was the interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia when
he warned the Georgetown dean that his office wouldn't hire the private
school’s students if it didn't eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion
programs, according to ethics charges filed last Friday by the Office of
Disciplinary Counsel.
Martin, an ardent Trump loyalist who is now the Justice Department’s
pardon attorney, is accused of violating his oath of office and the
Constitution's rights to free speech and due process. Disciplinary
Counsel Hamilton Fox, who filed the ethics charges against Martin, is
asking a panel of D.C. Court of Appeals officials to decide if any
discipline is warranted.
Martin and an attorney representing him in the matter didn’t immediately
respond to emails seeking comment. Martin has 20 days to formally
respond in writing.
After Martin learned of the accusations against him last year, he sent a
letter addressed to D.C. Court of Appeals judges in which he complained
about Fox's “uneven behavior” and requested a “face-to-face meeting with
all of you to discuss this matter and find a way forward,” according to
Fox's filing.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche criticized the complaint against
Martin as the product of "a blatantly Democrat-run political
organization.” A Justice Department statement said the complaint fits a
"partisan organization’s agenda“ to punish Trump administration
officials while ignoring ethical lapses by government attorneys who
worked under Democratic presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama.
“Let us not forget that 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,"
the department's statement said.
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Martin was a conservative activist with no prosecutorial experience
when President Donald Trump picked him last January to lead the
nation's largest U.S. Attorney's office. Martin was a leading figure
in Trump's “Stop the Steal” movement after the 2020 presidential
election.
In a letter to Georgetown Law Dean William Treanor last February,
Martin said a whistleblower informed him that Georgetown Law School
“continues to promote and teach DEI.” The letter dovetailed with an
executive order that Trump signed to call for ending DEI programs in
the federal government.
“This is unacceptable,” Martin wrote, warning the dean that his
office wouldn’t consider any Georgetown law students for jobs,
summer internships or fellowships until his “letter of inquiry” was
resolved.
In response, Treanor told Martin that the First Amendment prohibits
the government from dictating what Georgetown’s faculty teaches or
how to teach it.
“Given the First Amendment’s protection of a university’s freedom to
determine its own curriculum and how to deliver it, the
constitutional violation behind this threat is clear, as is the
attack on the University’s mission as a Jesuit and Catholic
institution,” Treanor wrote.
Trump pulled Martin’s nomination to keep the job on a more permanent
basis after a key Republican senator said he could not support
Martin for the job due to his outspoken advocacy for Trump
supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Last May, Trump picked Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to replace Martin
as U.S. Attorney. Martin remains the Justice Department’s pardon
attorney but was recently removed as head of its “Weaponization
Working Group,” which is tasked with scrutinizing the federal
prosecutions of Trump.
___
Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this
report.
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