Left: Interview with former acting U.S. Attorney for D.C., Ed Martin, broadcasted by Newsmax (court documents). Right: Allegedly Emily Gabriella Sommer is seen appearing to spit on Martin during the interview (court documents).
The woman accused of spitting on former acting U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., Ed Martin appears to be headed for a guilty plea.
According to court filings, a change of plea hearing for Emily Gabriella Sommer, 33, is scheduled for Thursday afternoon before U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb. Sommer had initially entered a not guilty plea to all charges on July 30.
This hearing follows Sommer expressing her intention in court on Tuesday to confess to three charges of assaulting, resisting, or impeding a federal officer, as per Jordan Fischer from CBS affiliate WUSA.
Sommer was taken into custody on May 22 for allegedly spitting on Martin two weeks prior during his interview outside the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C.
“Is your name Ed Martin?” Sommer inquired, as detailed in an affidavit accompanying the announcement of her charges. “You are Ed Martin,” she allegedly remarked before advancing and spitting on his left shoulder.
“You are a disgusting man. F— you, Ed Martin,” the woman is said to have stated next. “My name is Emily Gabriella Sommer, and you are served.”
Sommer’s initial court appearance occurred on May 22 but reportedly was tumultuous. As reported by the local D.C. media, she became “agitated” after realizing prosecutors were pursuing a more severe assault charge that could lead to an eight-year prison sentence. She purportedly spat at and kicked two U.S. marshals while being escorted out of the courtroom, leading to two additional assault charges specified in a superseding indictment.
Her situation became even more complicated in June.
The U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) argued in a court filing that Sommer had broken the conditions of her release by targeting Martin on social media – in comments such as “you mad, bro? You got fired, and then caught a loogie to the shoulder. I don’t think that makes you any sort of ‘active’ official.” These posts also tagged Martin’s account.
Days later, Sommer was arrested at her Washington, D.C., apartment building for allegedly defacing her neighbor’s property, Law&Crime previously reported. The suspect spray-painted the neighbor’s front door with the neighbor’s name followed by the word “Spy,” according to police, and she is believed to have also “attack[ed]” the neighbor’s door with “a metal rod.”
Background: 800 4th Street Southwest in Washington, D.C., is the location of the alleged defacing of property (Google Maps). Inset: Emily Gabriella Sommer (Court documents).
Sommer was placed in police custody in June and ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation. That case is ongoing, according to court records, which state her lawyers are negotiating a global plea deal that would settle all of her charges.
Martin has been a controversial figure in Washington, D.C. He has insinuated that the 2020 presidential election was stolen and fired prosecutors and FBI investigators who worked on Jan. 6 insurrection cases, among other things.
More than 100 former prosecutors in April voiced their opposition to Martin’s nomination to be the permanent U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, calling him an “egregiously unqualified political hack who has never served either as a prosecutor or judge.”
On May 8, the same day Martin was spat on, President Donald Trump pulled Martin’s nomination, likely seeing that he did not have the requisite Senate support to be confirmed. Jeanine Pirro of Fox News fame has since stepped in as the acting U.S. attorney for D.C.
In addition to serving as the DOJ’s pardon attorney, Martin is now the director of the DOJ’s so-called “Weaponization Working Group.”
