{"id":109509,"date":"2025-02-28T17:48:41","date_gmt":"2025-03-01T01:48:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/02\/28\/dc-prosecutor-ed-martin-keeps-inventing-new-ways-to-disgrace-his-office\/"},"modified":"2025-02-28T17:48:41","modified_gmt":"2025-03-01T01:48:41","slug":"dc-prosecutor-ed-martin-keeps-inventing-new-ways-to-disgrace-his-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/02\/28\/dc-prosecutor-ed-martin-keeps-inventing-new-ways-to-disgrace-his-office\/","title":{"rendered":"DC Prosecutor Ed Martin Keeps Inventing New Ways To Disgrace His Office"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/11\/embarrassed-businessman-lawyer-facepalm-face-palm-old-man1-620x413.jpg?resize=620%2C413&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1129044\" title=\"\"><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Everyone knew that putting a conspiracy theorist with no Justice Department experience in charge of the US Attorney\u2019s Office in DC would be a disaster. But no one could possibly have predicted the tire fire currently raging in the nation\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n<p>Ed Martin, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/politics\/d-c-s-new-top-prosecutor-advocated-for-jan-6-rioters-and-echoed-trumps-false-2020-election-claims\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">January 6 protester<\/a> nominated to lead the USAODC, spent the past five weeks <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/02\/dc-prosecutor-ed-martin-isnt-a-nazi-he-just-really-likes-eagles\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">waggling his wizened bits<\/a> at various Democrats in a pathetic attempt at intimidation, while <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/02\/turning-over-u-s-attorneys-office-to-conspiracy-theorist-working-out-as-expected\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">prostrating himself<\/a> before the DOGE dauphin in the vain hope of succeeding Pam Bondi when she inevitably wanders off to resume her true calling as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judiciary.senate.gov\/press\/dem\/releases\/pam-bondis-extensive-lobbying-for-wealthy-special-interests-and-foreign-government-poses-serious-conflict-of-interest\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">foreign lobbyist<\/a>. His knowledge of the <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/02\/trump-us-attorney-doesnt-understand-constitution-basic-grammar\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">First Amendment<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/02\/u-s-attorney-ed-martin-blows-past-another-ethical-line\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">legal ethics<\/a> is scant. But he makes up for it with dogged malevolence.<\/p>\n<p>To wit, when the former top criminal lawyer in his office <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/investigations\/2025\/02\/18\/federal-prosecutor-dc-resigns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">resigned<\/a> rather than put her name on a bogus letter asserting that there was probable cause to believe that EPA funds were illegally distributed, Martin gamely sent it himself. The supposedly \u201cillegal\u201d distribution was in fact made pursuant to a $27 billion congressional allocation to set up \u201cgreen bank\u201d funds to be loaned out to finance small and mid-size projects. But Project Veritas, the rightwing smear shop, recorded a low-level EPA staffer in a bar saying that the Biden administration was rushing to get appropriated funds out the door \u201clike throwing gold bars off the Titanic,\u201d and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.publicnotice.co\/p\/lee-zeldin-stacey-abrams-gold-bars\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">trying to make this <em>a thing<\/em><\/a> for two weeks now. <\/p>\n<p>According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/dc-md-va\/2025\/02\/27\/trump-fbi-epa-grant-investigation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Washington Post<\/a>, after sending out the \u201cfreeze letter\u201d to Citibank, Martin then tried and failed to get a federal magistrate judge to issue an actual criminal warrant:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Interim U.S. attorney Ed Martin then personally submitted a seizure warrant application without any other prosecutors in his office that was rejected by a U.S. magistrate judge in D.C., who found that the request and accompanying FBI agent affidavit failed to establish a reasonable belief that a crime occurred, three of the people said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, who is <a href=\"https:\/\/airmail.news\/issues\/2025-2-22\/the-apostate\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">doing his darnedest<\/a> to make a name for himself as number one villain before his boss Todd Blanche gets confirmed, has been shopping the case to multiple other US Attorneys Offices, trying to get some prosecutor to launch a grand jury investigation of this supposedly criminal spending. The Post says that he finally got someone in Miami to bite:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Meanwhile, the former EPA official in the Project Veritas video, Brent Efron, was contacted last week by the EPA\u2019s inspector general\u2019s office and on Monday by an FBI agent from Washington at the request of Miami federal prosecutor Joshua Paster, deputy chief of an asset forfeiture unit with the southern district of Florida, according to a person familiar with the matter. The Miami office is at least the third U.S. attorney\u2019s office asked to take part in the investigation. It was not clear if Paster would remain on the case, the person said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Efron\u2019s lawyer, the ubiquitous Mark Zaid, told the Post that his client was \u201cnever involved in the obligation or disbursement of funds from any EPA assistance program.\u201d But that\u2019s not stopping Bove and Martin, who will indict this ham sandwich if it\u2019s the last thing they do.<\/p>\n<p>But Martin wasn\u2019t resting on his laurels. <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bloomberglaw.com\/us-law-week\/us-attorney-ed-martin-demotes-jan-6-case-supervisors\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Bloomberg<\/a> reports that he just demoted multiple senior prosecutors who worked on the January 6 cases, reassigning them to work on pre-prosecution assessment of misdemeanor cases.<\/p>\n<p>Is America great again yet?<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n<p><em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/lizdye.bsky.social\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Liz Dye<\/a>\u00a0lives in Baltimore where she produces the Law and Chaos\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lawandchaospod.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">substack<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/law-and-chaos\/id1727769913\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">podcast<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/02\/dc-prosecutor-ed-martin-keeps-inventing-new-ways-to-disgrace-his-office\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">DC Prosecutor Ed Martin Keeps Inventing New Ways To Disgrace His Office<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/11\/embarrassed-businessman-lawyer-facepalm-face-palm-old-man1-620x413.jpg?resize=620%2C413&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1129044\" title=\"\"><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Everyone knew that putting a conspiracy theorist with no Justice Department experience in charge of the US Attorney\u2019s Office in DC would be a disaster. But no one could possibly have predicted the tire fire currently raging in the nation\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n<p>Ed Martin, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/politics\/d-c-s-new-top-prosecutor-advocated-for-jan-6-rioters-and-echoed-trumps-false-2020-election-claims\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">January 6 protester<\/a> nominated to lead the USAODC, spent the past five weeks <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/02\/dc-prosecutor-ed-martin-isnt-a-nazi-he-just-really-likes-eagles\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">waggling his wizened bits<\/a> at various Democrats in a pathetic attempt at intimidation, while <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/02\/turning-over-u-s-attorneys-office-to-conspiracy-theorist-working-out-as-expected\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">prostrating himself<\/a> before the DOGE dauphin in the vain hope of succeeding Pam Bondi when she inevitably wanders off to resume her true calling as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judiciary.senate.gov\/press\/dem\/releases\/pam-bondis-extensive-lobbying-for-wealthy-special-interests-and-foreign-government-poses-serious-conflict-of-interest\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">foreign lobbyist<\/a>. His knowledge of the <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/02\/trump-us-attorney-doesnt-understand-constitution-basic-grammar\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">First Amendment<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/02\/u-s-attorney-ed-martin-blows-past-another-ethical-line\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">legal ethics<\/a> is scant. But he makes up for it with dogged malevolence.<\/p>\n<p>To wit, when the former top criminal lawyer in his office <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/investigations\/2025\/02\/18\/federal-prosecutor-dc-resigns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">resigned<\/a> rather than put her name on a bogus letter asserting that there was probable cause to believe that EPA funds were illegally distributed, Martin gamely sent it himself. The supposedly \u201cillegal\u201d distribution was in fact made pursuant to a $27 billion congressional allocation to set up \u201cgreen bank\u201d funds to be loaned out to finance small and mid-size projects. But Project Veritas, the rightwing smear shop, recorded a low-level EPA staffer in a bar saying that the Biden administration was rushing to get appropriated funds out the door \u201clike throwing gold bars off the Titanic,\u201d and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.publicnotice.co\/p\/lee-zeldin-stacey-abrams-gold-bars\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">trying to make this <em>a thing<\/em><\/a> for two weeks now. <\/p>\n<p>According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/dc-md-va\/2025\/02\/27\/trump-fbi-epa-grant-investigation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Washington Post<\/a>, after sending out the \u201cfreeze letter\u201d to Citibank, Martin then tried and failed to get a federal magistrate judge to issue an actual criminal warrant:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Interim U.S. attorney Ed Martin then personally submitted a seizure warrant application without any other prosecutors in his office that was rejected by a U.S. magistrate judge in D.C., who found that the request and accompanying FBI agent affidavit failed to establish a reasonable belief that a crime occurred, three of the people said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, who is <a href=\"https:\/\/airmail.news\/issues\/2025-2-22\/the-apostate\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">doing his darnedest<\/a> to make a name for himself as number one villain before his boss Todd Blanche gets confirmed, has been shopping the case to multiple other US Attorneys Offices, trying to get some prosecutor to launch a grand jury investigation of this supposedly criminal spending. The Post says that he finally got someone in Miami to bite:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Meanwhile, the former EPA official in the Project Veritas video, Brent Efron, was contacted last week by the EPA\u2019s inspector general\u2019s office and on Monday by an FBI agent from Washington at the request of Miami federal prosecutor Joshua Paster, deputy chief of an asset forfeiture unit with the southern district of Florida, according to a person familiar with the matter. The Miami office is at least the third U.S. attorney\u2019s office asked to take part in the investigation. It was not clear if Paster would remain on the case, the person said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Efron\u2019s lawyer, the ubiquitous Mark Zaid, told the Post that his client was \u201cnever involved in the obligation or disbursement of funds from any EPA assistance program.\u201d But that\u2019s not stopping Bove and Martin, who will indict this ham sandwich if it\u2019s the last thing they do.<\/p>\n<p>But Martin wasn\u2019t resting on his laurels. <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bloomberglaw.com\/us-law-week\/us-attorney-ed-martin-demotes-jan-6-case-supervisors\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Bloomberg<\/a> reports that he just demoted multiple senior prosecutors who worked on the January 6 cases, reassigning them to work on pre-prosecution assessment of misdemeanor cases.<\/p>\n<p>Is America great again yet?<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<p><em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/lizdye.bsky.social\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Liz Dye<\/a>\u00a0lives in Baltimore where she produces the Law and Chaos\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lawandchaospod.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">substack<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/law-and-chaos\/id1727769913\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">podcast<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Everyone knew that putting a conspiracy theorist with no Justice Department experience in charge of the US Attorney\u2019s Office in DC would be a disaster. But no one could possibly have predicted the tire fire currently raging in the nation\u2019s capital. Ed Martin, the January 6 protester nominated to lead the USAODC, spent the past [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":109510,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-109509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/embarrassed-businessman-lawyer-facepalm-face-palm-old-man1-620x413-YYAbqq.jpeg?fit=620%2C413&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109509\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}