A top disciplinary official for the District of Columbia Bar is facing accusations that he violated his own ethical obligations by selectively pursuing charges against a senior Justice Department lawyer over a dispute rooted in diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
According to the Daily Caller, the Center to Advance Security in America (CASA) has asked for an immediate investigation into [District of Columbia Bar Disciplinary Counsel Hamilton P. Phil Fox III] for his selective targeting of Ed Martin seemingly for Martins work in carrying out the objectives and goals of the President of the United States for whom he works. Martin, now serving as the Department of Justice (DOJ) Pardon Attorney, is under bar scrutiny for a letter he sent while acting as interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, in which he warned Georgetown University Law Center that his office would not hire its students because of the schools aggressive diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) regime.
CASAs complaint portrays the disciplinary case as a politically motivated effort to punish a conservative official for challenging progressive orthodoxy in legal hiring. When bar complaints take the form of partisan witch hunts, the public can hardly feel assured that justice is being sought in a fair and nonpartisan fashion, the filing states, adding that Foxs selective partisan initiation of disciplinary proceedings is without merit and undermines the very spirit of the law.
The group underscores Foxs long record of political giving to Democrats as evidence of bias, noting contributions that include $2,300 to former President Barack Obamas 2008 campaign and another $6,000 to Democratic candidates between 1992 and 2003. For conservatives already wary of professional licensing bodies being used as ideological enforcement arms, those donations reinforce the perception that the disciplinary machinery is being turned against attorneys who resist left-wing DEI mandates.
Foxs complaint against Martin is no minor matter, as it carries a maximum potential sanction of disbarment. The charges accuse Martin of using coercion to punish or suppress a disfavored viewpoint while acting in his official capacity, essentially framing his refusal to recruit from Georgetown Law as an abuse of power rather than a principled stand against ideological litmus tests.
Martin continues to serve as Pardon Attorney but stepped away in February from his additional role on the DOJs Weaponization Working Group. He had been elevated to his current positions by President Donald Trump after his nomination to lead the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Columbia stalled in the Senate, a failure that many conservatives saw as driven by partisan resistance to Trumps nominees.
The Pardon Attorney has previously signaled that he views bar authorities as increasingly hostile to right-leaning lawyers. Martin told the DCNF in May 2025 that he also wanted to look into bar associations for targeting conservative attorneys.
Senior Justice Department leadership has not been silent as the case has unfolded, with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche sharply criticizing the D.C. Bar once the investigation into Martin became public on March 10. The DC Bar is such a blatantly Democrat-run political organization, he wrote on X, adding, Thank God Im not a member, and trust me, I never will be.
The D.C. Bar, which oversees licensing and discipline for thousands of attorneys in the nations capital, declined to engage publicly on the controversy. The DC Bar did not respond to a request for comment from the DCNF.
Inside the DOJ, the Martin matter has coincided with a broader push to shield department lawyers from what conservatives describe as politicized complaints. The DOJ proposed a new rule in March intended to stop the weaponization of bar complaints against its attorneys, which would give the attorney general the right to review ethics allegations against DOJ attorneys first and request state bars suspend any parallel investigations until the completion of the Departments review.
CASA Director James Fitzpatrick argued that Foxs actions send a chilling message to federal lawyers who carry out the policies of a conservative administration. Fox, who has made various Democrat political contributions in the past, filed a complaint against Mr. Martin seeking to punish Martin for merely carrying out the objectives and goals of President Trump as is his responsibility as a federal official, which signals to all federal lawyers that this could happen to them too, Fitzpatrick said in a statement to the DCNF, adding, CASA has requested an immediate investigation and careful review of Foxs conduct and if evidence of violations exist, we expect the full range of consequences to be considered.
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