Background: Supporters of President Donald Trump breached the Capitol in Washington on Wednesday, January 6, 2021 (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File). Inset: FILE — Ed Martin speaks during an event organized by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., at the Capitol in Washington, June 13, 2023 (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades, File).
A group of present and past federal agents has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Justice, claiming that a promise by the former acting head of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the nation’s capital to “name” and “shame” prosecutors involved in the Jan. 6 cases creates a serious threat to their security.
As previously covered by Law&Crime, anonymous federal agents sued the DOJ in February. They alleged that President Donald Trump’s directive to create a list of those in the department who worked on Jan. 6 cases, as well as the unsuccessful prosecution regarding Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, was meant to “purge” what he saw as political adversaries. The agents expressed concern in their complaint that “all or parts of this list might be released by Trump’s supporters, thereby putting themselves and their families at immediate risk of retaliation by convicted Jan. 6 felons who have now been pardoned and are free.”
Notably, the DOJ has said that it could not guarantee that the list would not be publicly released by other entities or agencies of the federal government.
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On Thursday, those agents filed a notice to U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb that Ed Martin — who Trump had named as Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, despite his reputation among federal prosecutors as an “egregiously unqualified political hack” — has now placed them in even more danger with public comments made Tuesday.
“Mr. Martin’s statements represent new, relevant facts worthy of the Court’s attention while it considers Plaintiffs’ requested relief,” the filing says.
Since leaving the top prosecutor post in Washington, D.C., Martin now serves as both Associate Deputy Attorney General and the head of the DOJ’s “Weaponization Working Group.” Trump has described Martin’s role as “highly important,” as he “will make sure we finally investigate the Weaponization of our Government under the Biden Regime, and provide much needed justice for its victims.”
According to the plaintiffs, Martin said at a press conference Tuesday that, as “captain” of the newly-formed group, he would “name” and “shame” the prosecutors — that is, if they couldn’t be charged with a crime.
Per the filing, Martin said the following:
It can’t be that the system is stifling the truth from coming out because of some procedure. If it’s in the manual, if it’s the law, look. I’m the guy that stands here and tells you, the January 6 defendants, every one of them wants all their documents back. They want us to release all the video. We said that’s not how that works. We have to be thoughtful and serious about how the system works. There is a path, if you are suing, there is a way, but we have to be serious about it, just like we have to be serious about getting to the truth. There are some really bad actors. Some people that did some really bad things to the American people. And if they can be charged, we’ll charge them. But if they can’t be charged, we will name them. And we will name them and in a culture that respects shame, they should be people that are shamed. And that’s a fact. That’s the way things work. And so, that’s how I believe the job operates.
Martin’s intent, the plaintiffs say, is “unmistakable” — and that his plan to “name” and “shame” is “how [he] believe[s] the job operates.”
“It confirms that DOJ leadership values their version of the ‘truth coming out’ over ‘some procedure,”” the filing also says, noting that this position is “particularly relevant where Mr. Martin is widely known to believe, and has publicly stated, the January 6th insurrection was a ‘fraud’ and a ‘hoax’ orchestrated by the FBI.”
Additionally, the plaintiffs say, Martin’s pledge signals that “DOJ leadership is in regular contact” with Jan. 6 defendants who have been “imploring” the DOJ to release information such as the names of the prosecutors who worked on those cases.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has reportedly granted the Department of Government Efficiency — an unofficial division of the Trump administration headed by tech billionaire Elon Musk — access to the list via DOJ systems, the plaintiffs said in the filing, citing a New York Times report.
The plaintiffs have asked Cobb, a Joe Biden appointee, to order the DOJ to destroy the list and issue an injunction preventing the DOJ from releasing it.
According to the federal docket, Cobb ordered the DOJ to reply to the plaintiffs’ filing by Wednesday.
