MaddowBlog-Justice Department's Ed Martin faces disciplinary proceedings from the D.C. Bar

[LetMyPeopleVote]

Last month, Martin was demoted and sidelined within the administration. If he thought that was the worst of his troubles, he’s now learning otherwise.

Last month, Ed Martin was demoted and sidelined within the administration.

But if he thought that was the worst of his troubles, he’s now learning otherwise.

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-03-10T17:23:22.930Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/justice-departments-ed-martin-faces-disciplinary-proceedings-from-the-d-c-bar

Over the past year or so, far-right activist Ed Martin has served in a variety of capacities on Donald Trump’s team, including a failed tenure as the director of the Justice Department’s “Weaponization Working Group” and his ongoing work as the president’s pardon attorney...

While federal prosecutors tend to focus resources on matters of law enforcement (since that is their job), Martin decided to launch a bizarre attack on academic freedom, targeting a private Catholic institution for unexplained reasons, telling the law school dean that Georgetown graduates would be locked out of potential jobs in the U.S. attorney’s office if the university taught or used “diversity, equity and inclusion” — which went undefined in his letter.

One year later, MS NOW confirmed that Martin is facing an ethics investigation from the D.C. Bar over his wildly unnecessary campaign against Georgetown Law.

Bloomberg Law also reported on the developments:

The Office of Disciplinary Counsel — the enforcement arm for the local DC Bar — alleges that Martin violated ethics rules in early 2025 by making threats against Georgetown University Law Center. … According to a petition from the office, Martin violated the local rules for lawyers by demanding that Georgetown Law change what it teaches students. […]

The office also alleges that Martin attempted to interfere with its investigation of his conduct related to Georgetown Law.

Martin, a key figure in the “Stop the Steal” movement in 2020, hasn’t yet commented on the investigation, though it’s worth emphasizing that this is not his only ongoing headache. MS NOW also reported in the fall that a federal grand jury is investigating whether Martin illegally shared sensitive grand jury information while the administration targeted some of the president’s perceived political enemies.

Last month, Martin was demoted and sidelined within the administration, but if he thought that was the worst of his troubles, he’s now learning otherwise. Watch this space.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

1. MS NOW- The DOJ's ethics proposal would have a corrupt fox guarding the henhouse

If Attorney General Pam Bondi has her way, an extremely important guardrail could disappear.

The DOJ’s ethics proposal would have a corrupt fox guarding the henhouse
If Attorney General Pam Bondi has her way, an extremely important guardrail could disappear.

www.ms.now/opinion/doj-...

— (@creolenl.bsky.social) 2026-03-18T12:21:25.382Z

https://www.ms.now/opinion/doj-ethics-proposal-pam-bondi

State bar associations play an important accountability role across the country. Trump administration lawyers know that their legal licenses are subject to censure, because practicing law in the United States remains a privilege, not a right. But if Attorney General Pam Bondi has her way, even this guardrail could disappear.

Last week, Bondi proposed a new rule that would allow the Department of Justice to take over investigations of alleged attorney misconduct of its own lawyers. State bar authorities would have to pause their investigations while the Justice Department conducts its own probe. The rule gives the DOJ the ability to delay or even derail a state investigation.

It doesn’t feel like a coincidence that there has been a series of state ethics complaints filed against Trump administration lawyers, including Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and federal prosecutors handling immigration cases. President Donald Trump’s polarizing pardon attorney Ed Martin is currently facing just such a complaint from the D.C. Bar.,,,,

Federal law requires all federal prosecutors to comply with the ethics rules of the state where they practice law, including the District of Columbia. The new rule requires Justice Department lawyers to obey the substance of their state’s ethics rules, but gives the DOJ the authority to investigate violations. According to the proposal, whenever a bar grievance is filed, “the Department will have the right to review the allegations in the first instance and shall request that the bar disciplinary authority suspend any parallel investigations until the completion of the Department’s review.”.....

In the decades since the Watergate scandal, the Justice Department has conducted robust investigations of allegations of ethical misconduct by its own attorneys and imposed discipline. In fact, it was common for state bar authorities to wait for the DOJ to complete its investigations before initiating their own probes, because the federal process held attorneys to standards even higher than state ethics rules. But that landscape changed last year, when Bondi fired the head of the department’s Office of Professional Responsibility and its chief ethics officer. Now there is a risk that DOJ lawyers will be even further sheltered from meaningful ethical oversight.

Bondi has fired the officials at the Office of Professional Responsibility to give the MAGA assholes free reign in violating their ethical responsibilities. These proposed regulations will be challenged if adopted