Washington’s attorney-discipline office filed professional misconduct charges March 7 against Ed Martin, the Justice Department’s pardon attorney, accusing him of violating the Constitution when, as interim U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., he threatened Georgetown Law School’s dean with a student hiring freeze if the school did not eliminate its diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
The charges were filed by Disciplinary Counsel Hamilton Fox with the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, which enforces ethics standards for D.C.-licensed attorneys. Fox is asking a D.C. Court of Appeals panel to determine whether discipline is warranted. Martin, who did not immediately respond to requests for comment, has 20 days to formally respond in writing.
The charges stem from a February 2025 letter Martin sent as interim U.S. Attorney in pursuit of President Donald Trump’s executive order eliminating DEI programs from the federal government. The complaint accuses Martin of violating his oath of office and the Constitution’s protections for free speech and due process.
The letter
In February 2025, Martin wrote to Georgetown Law Dean William Treanor that a whistleblower had informed him that Georgetown Law School “continues to promote and teach DEI.” Martin wrote that the situation was “unacceptable” and warned that his office would not consider any Georgetown students for jobs, summer internships or fellowships until his “letter of inquiry” was resolved.
Treanor responded that the First Amendment prohibits the government from dictating what Georgetown’s faculty teaches or how to teach it. “Given the First Amendment’s protection of a university’s freedom to determine its own curriculum and how to deliver it, the constitutional violation behind this threat is clear, as is the attack on the University’s mission as a Jesuit and Catholic institution,” Treanor wrote.
After Martin learned of the ethics accusations — before the formal March 7 filing — he sent a letter to D.C. Court of Appeals judges complaining about Fox’s “uneven behavior” and requesting a “face-to-face meeting with all of you to discuss this matter and find a way forward,” according to Fox’s filing.
Justice Department response
The Justice Department said the complaint was politically motivated. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said it was the product of “a blatantly Democrat-run political organization.” A department statement said the complaint fits a “partisan organization’s agenda” to punish Trump administration officials while ignoring ethical lapses by government attorneys who served under Democratic presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama.
“Let us not forget that DC-barred members of Biden’s special counsel were found to have acted against President Trump without legal authority and in clear violation of the Constitution, yet the bar did nothing,” the statement said.
Martin’s background
Martin was a conservative activist with no prosecutorial experience when Trump appointed him interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia in January 2025, leading the nation’s largest U.S. Attorney’s office. He had been a leading figure in Trump’s “Stop the Steal” movement following the 2020 presidential election.
Trump later pulled Martin’s nomination for the permanent U.S. Attorney position after a key Republican senator said he could not support Martin because of his outspoken advocacy for Trump supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. In May 2025, Trump picked Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to replace Martin as U.S. Attorney. Martin remains the Justice Department’s pardon attorney but was recently removed as head of its “Weaponization Working Group,” which is tasked with scrutinizing federal prosecutions of Trump.