Donald Trump’s top federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C., is said to have demoted several of the office’s senior leaders to low-level misdemeanors for their work on cases involving the president’s allies and the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
According to Reuters, interim US Attorney in Washington Ed Martin has permanently reassigned at least seven of his most experienced prosecutors to junior-level positions in D.C. Superior Court, including those who worked on cases against former Trump White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and current senior counselor for trade and manufacturing Peter Navarro.
“As you are aware, each US Attorney must assess the needs of his office in order to meet the goals established by the President and Attorney General.
To that end, I must assign attorneys to areas where I believe there is a need and where each AUSA can contribute,” Martin wrote to those staff members in an email obtained by Bloomberg Law. “Let me be clear: this change is not temporary.”
Martin reportedly stated that he was reducing the senior-level prosecutors because “misdemeanors do important work and require assistance.”
The demotion email was reportedly sent to Kathryn Rakoczy, Elizabeth Aloi, and John Crabb. Rakoczy brought cases against several members of the far-right Oath Keepers, including the organization’s founder, Stewart Rhodes.
Aloi was the lead prosecutor in the Navarro case, while Crabb led the charge against Bannon. Navarro and Bannon were each sentenced to four months in jail for contempt of Congress.
Jason McCullough, a member of the prosecutorial team that helped convict Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio for his role in the Capitol riot, was also demoted, Politico reported.
Martin, a conservative activist and 2020 election denier who previously led the Missouri Republican Party, was nominated to the permanent U.S. Attorney position by President Trump last month.
In January, Martin oversaw the pardoning of hundreds of Capitol rioters and fired a slew of prosecutors who were converted from temporary to permanent status in the weeks leading up to Trump’s inauguration.
A former federal prosecutor told CNN that the administration’s most recent legal shake-up was shocking.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” the prosecutor allegedly told the network. “It is inconceivable.”
Another source claimed to CNN that Martin’s decision was “meant to get them to quit.”
Martin raised eyebrows last week when he expressed support for the administration’s decision to bar The Associated Press from certain presidential events in the White House and on Air Force One by referring to DOJ attorneys as “President Trump’s lawyers.”
“As President Trump’s lawyers, we are proud to fight to protect his leadership as our President and we are vigilant in standing up against entities like the AP that refuse to put America first,” he wrote on X, which was once Twitter.
The post quickly received a “community note” pointing out that the DOJ represents the United States in legal matters and is not the President’s personal law firm.
