WASHINGTON — The incoming director of the Justice Department's "Weaponization Working Group" revealed Wednesday he was under investigation by D.C.'s Office of Disciplinary Counsel, accusing the official in charge of investigating bar complaints of "weaponizing" his role, according to an letter viewed by NBC News.
Outgoing Interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Ed Martin, in a going-away email to his staff, complained about the actions of Disciplinary Counsel Hamilton P. “Phil” Fox III, who serves as chief prosecutor for disciplinary matters for attorneys who are members of the D.C. Bar.
“Please know that I will continue to fight against the systemic abuse of our prosecutors by [Public Defender Service], the Judges, and especially the DC Disciplinary Counsel,” Martin wrote in the email to staff. “It is an outrage how they treat us and I will continue the fight against the weaponization of our law licenses against us. Please see the attached — I am taking on Mr. Fox head on. His conduct is personally insulting and professionally unacceptable.”
Several outside organizations and members of Congress have sought investigations into Martin over his actions while he was U.S. attorney, and Fox had previously declined to take further steps on at least one of the requests. Most requests sent to Fox's office are turned away, but Martin's letter indicted that at least one probe was moving forward, which has been given a disciplinary docket number: 2025-D047.
The investigation is in a non-public stage, and will only become a matter of public record if the office makes a decision to move forward with a disciplinary case against Martin.
Fox declined to comment. News of the investigation was first reported by Reuters.
Martin's goodbye email was accompanied by a copy of a letter to Judge Anna Blackburne-Rigsby of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, in which he complains that Fox sent “signature required paid postage” to his home and office which “prompted questions from my family and work colleagues who had to sign." Martin called it an “annoyance” and saying it “pushed the envelope of confidentiality.” He also writes that Fox sent the letter to the intake email box for the U.S Attorney's Office's Civil Division.
“To be clear, Mr. Fox is weaponizing his role, responsibilities, and his office against me and this office. He is using a recent bar complaint as his weapon,” Martin wrote in the letter. “I ask that you not only suspend Mr. Fox immediately to investigate his conduct, but also to dismiss this case against me because of his prejudicial conduct."
The Justice Department’s Weaponization Working Group, of which Martin is taking charge, was formed by Attorney General Pam Bondi in response to an executive order from President Donald Trump and is charged with looking into several issues, including the work of former Special Counsel Jack Smith and the Justice Department’s handling of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Martin's letter came the same day that former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro took over the role of interim U.S. attorney, after the Senate didn't move forward with confirming Martin to serve on a permanent basis.
In a press conference on Tuesday, Martin said that he planned to "shame" individuals he said "did some really bad things to the American people" even if the Justice Department did not pursue criminal charges.
In an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson that posted on Wednesday, Martin said that he doesn't think that prosecuting individuals for criminal wrongdoing is enough, continuing to suggest that he'll use the bully pulpit of the Justice Department to communicate information about uncharged parties.
“One of the reasons I say information is so key, you can’t, we can’t win the Article III battle fast enough,” Martin said, referring to courts. “You can’t win it fast enough to get the progress we need.”
“So you’re in the courts fighting to get the truth out, fighting to make these things, prosecutions and all, but they take a longer time than just getting the word out, right, getting the information out,” Martin said. “I feel like it’s a different moment in history.”
