Ed Martin, President Donald Trump’s Justice Department weaponization chief, called for the resignation of New York Attorney General Letitia James and posed for photos outside of her Brooklyn home last week – all as he is conducting investigations into her conduct.
His investigation of James, whose office brought civil fraud charges against Trump, his adult sons, and the Trump Organization resulting in a half-billion-dollar judgment last year, is one of several the Justice Department has launched into the president’s perceived enemies.
But since beginning of the investigation into James, Martin has taken several unusual steps that fall outside the norms of prosecutorial conduct. He sent a letter to James’ attorney Abbe Lowell on August 12 suggesting New York’s top law enforcement officer resign, he appeared outside of James’ home with a colleague trailed by a photographer for the New York Post, and appeared on Fox News pledging to take an expansive look into all of James’ conduct.
In video obtained by CNN, Martin can be seen posing for photos outside of James’ home.
“This is a criminal investigation, not social media,” said Elie Honig, CNN’s senior legal analyst. “A stunt like that might get clicks, but it’s patently inappropriate for a prosecutor to do and it certainly will give James and her attorney a basis to oppose any indictment, to argue it was prejudicial to the jury pool and that an indictment was brought in bad faith.”
The conduct is “outside the bounds of DOJ and ethics rules,” Lowell said in a response to Martin.
Justice Department policy generally prohibits discussing criminal investigations publicly, and attorneys are not supposed to pursue investigations for political means or to go on fishing expeditions.
DOJ declined to comment for this story.
Martin’s job titles and investigations
Martin, a ring-wing firebrand who pushed a retribution agenda that caught Trump’s attention, holds four titles at the Justice Department: US Pardon Attorney, Special Attorney for Mortgage Fraud, Associate Deputy Attorney General, and director of the Weaponization Working Group.
He is also investigating another Trump enemy, Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California, who led congressional investigations into the 2016 presidential election.
Both James and Schiff deny any wrongdoing.
“We’re gonna go to the very bottom of the facts, and if somebody did something wrong, we’re not only gonna hold them accountable, we’re also gonna look at everything else that they’ve been doing. Because when you’re a liar, you lie not just on one thing,” Martin said on Fox News on Sunday. “When you’re a cheater, you cheat not just on one thing. When you’re doing corruption, you generally don’t just do it on one thing.”
Grand juries in Virginia and New York are investigating James, people familiar with the matter have told CNN. The New York grand jury subpoenaed James and is looking into her investigations into the Trump Organization and the National Rifle Association. A separate investigation in Virginia is looking into whether she committed mortgage fraud on loan applications.
Lowell punched back in a letter Monday to Martin addressing his call for her resignation, “Let me be clear: that will not happen here.”
“Were there any doubts as to your political retributive mission, you erased them in your first statements about your appointment when you stated that your assignment is to ‘stick the landing.’ A responsible and credible federal prosecutor is not a pommel horse gymnast,” Lowell wrote.
Lowell has said the investigations are on “baseless and long-discredited allegations.”
Before entering government, Martin was an organizer in the “Stop the Steal” movement that claimed the 2020 election was rigged and later defended numerous people charged in the January 6, 2021, riot on the US Capitol. Martin was tapped by Trump to serve as interim US attorney for the District of Columbia, where he quickly moved to dismiss January 6-related cases and fired prosecutors involved in them.
His tenure was tumultuous, and his nomination was dropped after bipartisan opposition.
Martin said Sunday on Fox that he was in New York and New Jersey for meetings last week and went to view James’ home.
“I wanted to lay eyes on it,” he said. “You gotta get a sense of what is actually at stake.”