Ed Martin delivering an “election message” in October 2020 (Phyllis Schlafly Eagles/YouTube).
Donald Trump’s top federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C., reportedly demoted several of the office’s senior leaders to handling low-level misdemeanors for their work on prosecuting cases involving the president’s allies and the Jan. 6, attack on the Capitol.
Interim U.S. Attorney in Washington Ed Martin permanently reassigned at least seven of the most experienced prosecutors in his office to junior-level positions in D.C. Superior Court, including those who worked on cases against former Trump White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and current senior counselor for trade and manufacturing Peter Navarro, according to a report from Reuters.
“As you know, each US Attorney must assess the needs of his office to achieve the goals set forth by the President and Attorney General. To that end, I must assign attorneys where I assess there is need and where I believe each AUSA can contribute,” Martin wrote to those staff members in an email obtained by Bloomberg Law. “Let me be clear: this change is not temporary.”
Martin reportedly added that he was bumping the senior-level prosecutors down because “misdemeanors does important work and needs assistance.”
Notable names that received the demotion email reportedly included Kathryn Rakoczy, Elizabeth Aloi, and John Crabb. Rakoczy prosecuted cases against multiple members of the far-right Oath Keepers, including the group’s founder Stewart Rhodes. Aloi was the lead prosecutor in the prosecution of Navarro while Crabb led the charge against Bannon. Navarro and Bannon were both sentenced to four months in jail for contempt of Congress.
Jason McCullough, who was part of the prosecutorial team that helped convict Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio for his role in the Capitol riot was also demoted, Politico reported.
Martin, a conservative activist and 2020 election denier who previously served as the head of the Missouri Republican Party, was nominated to the permanent U.S. Attorney role by Trump last month. In January, Martin also oversaw the pardoning of hundreds of Capitol rioters and fired a slew of prosecutors who had been converted from temporary to permanent status in the weeks leading up to Trump’s inauguration
A former federal prosecutor told CNN that the administration’s latest legal shake-up was shocking.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” the prosecutor reportedly told the network. “It is inconceivable.”
Another source reportedly told CNN that Martin’s decision was “meant to get them to quit.”
Last week, Martin raised eyebrows when he voiced his support for the administration’s decision to ban The Associated Press from certain presidential events in the White House and on Air Force One by releasing a statement referring to attorneys at the DOJ as “President Trump’s lawyers.”
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“As President Trump’s lawyers, we are proud to fight to protect his leadership as our President and we are vigilant in standing up against entities like the AP that refuse to put America first,” he posted to X, formerly Twitter. The post quickly garnered a “community note” pointing out that the DOJ represents the United States in legal matters and “is not the personal law firm of the President.”
