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“Eagle”
Ed
Martin,
the
Trump
loyalist
that
even
this
Republican
Senate
found
too
incompetent
to
confirm
when
he
sought
to
head
the
U.S.
Attorney’s
Office
in
D.C.,
has
managed
to
find
a
new
way
to
confirm
that
skepticism.
Earlier
this
week,
we
heard
that
the
DOJ
relieved
Ed
of
his
tasks
as
the
driving
force
behing
the
DOJ’s
anti-weaponization
initiative
—
the
ironically
named
group
working
to
actively
weaponize
the
DOJ
against
Trump’s
political
enemies.
Every
accusation
really
is
a
confession,
as
they
say.
Now
we
may
know
why
Eagle
Ed
had
his
wings
clipped.
According
to
CNN,
a
DOJ
review
found
Martin
leaked
grand
jury
material
from
the
Trump
administration’s
politically
motivated
investigations
into
Adam
Schiff
and
Letitia
James:
The
department
found
that
Martin
had
shared
the
secret
grand
jury
material
in
the
Schiff
case,
one
of
the
sources
said.
The
person
said
Martin
initially
denied
sharing
the
material
with
unauthorized
people
when
asked
by
department
leaders,
but
emails
soon
surfaced
showing
that
Martin
had
in
fact
shared
the
grand
jury
material.
Generally,
we
keep
grand
jury
material
secret
for
a
reason.
It
protects
investigative
integrity
and
the
rights
of
the
accused.
When
prosecutors
leak
that
material,
it’s
at
least
contemptuous
and
at
worst
obstruction
of
justice.
That’s
one
of
those
actual
crimes,
not
the
made-up
“somebody
criticized
Elon
Musk”
crimes
Martin
threatened
people
with
during
his
tenure
as
interim
D.C.
U.S.
Attorney.
Deputy
AG
Todd
Blanche
reportedly
oversaw
the
review,
resulting
in
Martin’s
exile
from
the
weaponization
project
to
concentrate
on
his
role
overseeing
pardons
for
a
president
almost
assuredly
selling
pardons.
But
Blanche
isn’t
going
to
sell
out
a
fellow
MAGA
warrior.
In
his
statement
to
CNN,
Blanche
offers
a
masterclass
in
lawyerly
semantics:
[T]here
are
no
misconduct
investigations
into
Ed
Martin.
Ed
is
doing
a
great
job
as
Pardon
Attorney.
The
present
tense
does
some
conspicuous
heavy
lifting
here.
No
misconduct
investigations
currently,
but
don’t
ask
Blanche
the
follow-up
about
investigations
they’ve
already
concluded.
Ed
may
be
doing
a
great
job
as
Pardon
Attorney
—
he’s
not,
but
he
may
have
been
—
but
how’s
he
doing
as
Weaponization
Working
Group
chief,
Todd?
Fittingly,
the
whole
reason
this
investigation
came
to
light
was
also
quite
dumb.
Back
in
December,
a
witness
named
Christine
Bish
showed
up
at
a
Maryland
courthouse
after
receiving
a
subpoena.
Investigators
asked
her
about
two
people
who
claimed
to
be
working
on
fraud
cases
alongside
Martin
and
FHFA
Director
Bill
Pulte
that
the
DOJ
was
investigating
these
individuals
for
impersonating
federal
agents.
Shocking
theory
that
the
FBI
wouldn’t
have
the
same
appetite
for
wild
goose
chases
as
a
couple
of
bros
informally
deputized
to
poke
into
the
half-baked
theories
Martin
and
Pulte
keep
pinning
on
Trump’s
enemies.
Days
later,
a
social
media
user
highlighted
that
ongoing
probe
and
referenced
Pulte
and
Martin
being
under
investigation.
Attorney
General
Pam
Bondi
responded
by
seemingly
trying
to
correct
the
record,
without
elaborating.
“There
is
no
investigation
into
Bill
Pulte”
she
wrote
on
X.
Hilarious.
For
those
keeping
score
at
home,
this
is
the
same
Ed
Martin
who:
dismissed
a
case
against
his
own
former
client,
threatened
Wikipedia,
and
harassed
people
without
any
criminal
law
justification
just
because
he
thought
they
sounded
woke.
He
also
posted
photos
he
took
with
Russell
Brand…
not
Forgetting
Sarah
Marshall-era
Brand,
but
currently
facing
sexual
assault
charges
Brand.
When
he
took
over
the
weaponization
group,
he
said
of
the
work,
“If
they
can
be
charged,
we’ll
charge
them.
But
if
they
can’t
be
charged,
we
will
name
them.
And
we
will
name
them,
and
in
a
culture
that
respects
shame,
they
should
be
people
that
are
ashamed.”
It
seems
this
DOJ
has
little
interest
in
pursuing
charges
here.
So
I
guess
we’ll
have
to
rely
on
the
shaming.
And,
hopefully,
an
ethics
probe.
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments.
Follow
him
on Twitter or
Bluesky
if
you’re
interested
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and
a
healthy
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college
sports
news.
Joe
also
serves
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Managing
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Search.