Justice Department pardon attorney Ed Martin has been formally accused of ethics violations for a threatening letter he sent to he sent to Georgetown University Law Center last year about its diversity programs.
Martin is accused of violating his ethical codes as an attorney for telling the university’s dean last year that the Justice Department wouldn’t hire its students because of the school’s diversity, inclusion and equity initiatives programs, according to a filing made in the District of Columbia Court of Appeals’ Board on Professional Responsibility on Friday.
The announcement, made Tuesday by Disciplinary Counsel Hamilton “Phil” Fox III of the D.C. Bar, puts Martin in the hot seat because he will have to respond to questions about his conduct and could be sanctioned or even lose his law license.
“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,’” Fox wrote in the complaint. “He demanded that Georgetown Law relinquish its free speech and religious rights in order to continue to obtain a benefit, employment opportunities for its students.”
Martin, a far-right supporter of President Donald Trump, previously fired more than a dozen federal prosecutors involved in criminal cases tied to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, and launched probes into Trump’s political enemies.
