But his focus on prosecutors’ charging decisions follows calls by Trump and some supporters for prosecutors to be prosecuted.
He has also taken on Alicia Long, a career prosecutor in the office and former Republican Senate staffer, as his new principal assistant U.S. attorney and second-in-command.
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Story continues below advertisement Former officials with the office called the investigation of the obstruction charge puzzling.
In an interview before he stepped down Jan. 17, Biden-appointed U.S. attorney Matthew M. Graves said: “All that we did was continue to bring the same kinds of cases that the prior administration brought.
Edward R. Martin Jr. the interim U.S. A. lawyer for DdotC. has requested an internal review of its handling of Capitol riot prosecutions by two of his office’s top prosecutors. The review will concentrate on one of the most contentious counts in the extensive investigation, which President Donald Trump has attempted to discredit as a “witch hunt” against him.
Following Trump’s pardons or sentence commutations for all nearly 1,600 defendants in one of the Justice Department’s biggest prosecutions, the action continues a dramatic effort to alter the way that history views the Jan. 6, 2021, riot. It comes on the heels of a White House executive order to the Justice Department and intelligence agencies to hunt for political bias in their ranks.
Martin said he had assigned Criminal Division Chief Denise Cheung and Fraud, Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section Chief Jon Hooks to lead a “special project” looking into the office’s charging of over 250 Capitol riot defendants with obstructing an official proceeding of Congress, a statute the Supreme Court ruled last June was too broadly applied. He made this announcement in an email to staff on Monday morning.
In the email, Martin stated, “Clearly, the use was a great failure of our office … and we need to get to the bottom of it.” He had anticipated receiving a preliminary report by Friday. The Washington Post looked at a copy of the communications.
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Pay attention to DdotC. geographic area.
Martin used the number that corresponds to the obstruction statute’s section number in the federal code to write, “Please deliver to Jonathan and/or Denise all information you have related to the use of 1512 charges including all files, documents, notes, emails, and other information.”. He added, “This 1512 project is important work, so please be thorough and assertive in this.”. “”.
Proceed to the carousel’s end.
The carousel has ended.
The investigation was made public on the same day that acting Attorney General James McHenry dismissed a number of special counsel Jack Smith’s team members who had been prosecuting Trump on allegations that he attempted to illegally tamper with the 2020 election results and unlawfully keep and prevent the return of classified materials after leaving the White House in 2021, according to a department spokesperson.
“I do not believe that these officials will help faithfully carry out the President’s agenda,” McHenry stated. “”.
In the office of 300 federal prosecutors, the largest U.S. prosecutor’s office in the country, Martin assigned two of the top supervisors. S. attorney’s office — to conduct the review stoked criticism from Justice Department officials, both past and present, who said he is assisting the Trump administration in transferring prosecutorial resources, punishing prosecutors who make reasonable legal decisions, and sowing discord in the office. Almost every judge who considered it before it made it to the high court agreed with the prosecution’s use of the obstruction statute.
His emphasis on the charging decisions of prosecutors, however, comes after Trump and some of his supporters called for prosecution of prosecutors. Martin, 54, served on the board of a nonprofit organization that raised funds for Jan and organized Trump’s “Stop the Steal” campaign following his defeat in the 2020 election. For six defendants, political persecution was the cause. He defended three of these defendants, one of whom was a leader of the Kansas City Proud Boys and entered a guilty plea to assaulting police with an ax handle.
Martin prioritizes reviewing the work of Capitol breach investigators, as evidenced by his early actions in office. He may also be involved in carrying out orders from the Trump administration.
Despite being appointed Jan. 20 on a temporary basis — 120 days by statute — Martin stated last week during an introductory staff meeting that he anticipated becoming a permanent U.S. A. according to an attendee and others briefed on the meeting, attorney, most likely following nomination and Senate confirmation. Due to fear of retaliation, the individuals spoke under the condition of anonymity.
Martin dismissed the head of the office’s Capitol breach prosecution unit, Greg Rosen, and shut it down. As his new principal assistant, he has also hired Alicia Long, a former Republican Senate staffer and current career prosecutor. A. lawyer as well as second-in-command.
Martin congratulated Trump on the pardon of two D.C in an email to his own office. According to the email recipient, Martin’s predecessors’ career attorneys prosecuted the case against the police officers found guilty of second-degree murder and obstruction of justice in the 2020 death of a moped driver.
According to a copy of the email read to The Post, he also instructed the office’s more than 800 staff members not to communicate with the media, stating, “We will not tolerate this behavior.”.
A week after Trump signed an order “ending the weaponization of the federal government,” Martin announced Monday that an internal review would be conducted. The order instructed the director of national intelligence and the attorney general to search federal agencies for political bias during the Biden administration and submit a report and recommendations to the White House for “remedial action.”. “.”.
Asserting that the Biden administration “and allies throughout the country engaged in an unprecedented, third-world weaponization of prosecutorial power to upend the democratic process,” the order also accused the Justice Department of “ruthlessly” prosecuting over 1,500 riot participants. “”.
The order stated it was the start of a process to seek “accountability” for officials deemed to have acted against the order, but it did not specify when or what kind of review would be carried out—a criminal inquiry, an ethics investigation similar to those carried out by the Justice Department’s inspector general or office of professional responsibility, or something else entirely. It was unclear if Martin was conducting the review on behalf of the department or himself, or if it had anything to do with the order.
An official for the U. A. The attorney’s office stated that it was unable to comment at this time regarding Martin’s plans, the purpose of the review, or its next steps.
Martin’s email seemed to be a follow-up to other recent announcements from the administration regarding hiring, diversity, and communication restrictions.
Employees should report all “DEI and related efforts, materials, decisions, etc.” He also informed staff that “all DEI efforts” — diversity, equity, and inclusion, whether they are known by that name or another — have been discontinued. quickly. It’s a problem if you don’t. “.”.
One employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not permitted to speak in public, stated that staff members are upset and afraid that their coworkers will be telling each other about their work and programs.
Former office officials described the obstruction charge investigation as “puzzling.”. However, in June of last year, the Supreme Court decided that federal prosecutors could only use it against defendants who attempted to tamper with the physical evidence used to certify the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, not to delay Congress’s overall certification on January. 6, 2021 — two of three federal appellate judges and all but one of the fifteen trial judges who rendered decisions on the matter had supported the prosecutors’ more expansive, “catchall” viewpoint.
Judges have reduced sentences in certain cases where defendants have not served their time or have been found guilty of more serious crimes as a result of the Supreme Court’s decision. And before Trump’s pardons cleared the air, prosecutors either dropped or filed new charges against other defendants who were still awaiting trial before the case was resolved.
“After lower courts approved the use of the statute, we want prosecutors to be aggressive and entrepreneurial — to consider all options on behalf of the American people — and now we want to subject them to investigation because the Supreme Court reversed course,” a former official stated. “There isn’t a better way to depress spirits, make people wary, and instill fear, in my opinion. “.”.
Over the weekend, the Justice Department removed websites that contained information about the historic Capitol breach prosecutions, just days after Trump commuted the sentences of nearly 1,600 individuals charged in the investigation or pardoned them.
charging choices made in January. A Trump administration appointee and Justice Department official, acting U.S. President, initiated six breach investigations while Trump was still in office at the conclusion of his first term. A. representing DdotC. Sherwin, Michael R.
Prior to stepping down, Jan, he was interviewed. Biden appointed U.S. S. . All we did was keep bringing the same types of cases that the previous administration brought, according to lawyer Matthew M. Graves. And by “we,” I mean prosecutors in their careers. In the weeks following January 6th, career supervisors and prosecutors developed guidelines for who would face charges and for what charges. And all of those rules have been adhered to. And I would contend that that is a consistency—a good one. “”.
correction.
The first name of prosecutor Greg Rosen was misspelled in a previous version of this article. A correction has been made to this version.
