DC Bar charges DOJ attorney Ed Martin with ethic violations over letter to Georgetown Law

The Washington, D.C. bar has filed ethics charges against the Justice Department's pardon attorney Ed Martin over a letter he sent to Georgetown University last year while serving as interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.

The charges were filed with the D.C. Court of Appeals' Board on Professional Responsibility last week but were not made public until Tuesday, according to CBS News.

Martin allegedly sent Georgetown University Law Center a letter last February that raised questions about its diversity and inclusion policies, claiming a whistle-blower told him that the school was teaching DEI and barred his office staff from employing students from the school as fellows, interns or employees, without hearing back from the school. 

The D.C. Bar's Disciplinary Counsel Hamilton "Phil" Fox III alleged in the court filings that Martin's conduct as a government official violated the First and Fifth Amendments.

"Acting in his official capacity and speaking on behalf of the government, he used coercion to punish or suppress a disfavored viewpoint, the teaching and promotion of DEI," the court filing says. "He demanded that Georgetown Law relinquish its free speech and religious rights in order to obtain a benefit, employment opportunities for its students."

The Justice Department slammed the D.C. Bar in a statement, accusing the organization of being partisan. 

"The DC bar's attempt 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 statement said.