US Prosecutor Opens Probe of DOJ’s Jan. 6 Cases

Ed Martin speaks at an event in Washington on June 13, 2023. Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/AP Photo

A U.S. prosecutor said on Jan. 27 that he’s investigating why federal prosecutors brought a felony obstruction charge against hundreds of people involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol.

Ed Martin, interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, in an internal email ordered a review of the matter, directing employees to hand over related files, emails, and other documents.

Martin wrote that the use of the charge, obstruction of an official proceeding, was “a great failure of our office.” He ordered the supervisors to provide a preliminary report on the matter to him by Jan. 31.

“We need to get to the bottom of it,” Martin wrote.

He’s calling it the “1512 Project,” because the offense falls under that section of the law.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, which is part of the Department of Justice (DOJ), did not respond to a request for more information.

Section 1512 of the U.S. Code prohibits people from obstructing, influencing, or impeding any official proceeding or attempting to do so. It carries a prison term of up to 20 years.

Prosecutors with the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington charged about 260 people who were in or around the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, with obstructing an official proceeding.

Former police officer Joseph Fischer, one of the accused, challenged the charge in court. That led to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that concluded that prosecutors were interpreting the law too broadly.

“On the Government’s theory, Section 1512(c) consists of a granular subsection (c)(1) focused on obstructive acts that impair evidence and an overarching subsection (c)(2) that reaches all other obstruction,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority. “Even setting surplusage aside, that novel interpretation would criminalize a broad swath of prosaic conduct, exposing activists and lobbyists alike to decades in prison.”

Before President Donald Trump took office, the government dropped the charge or asked the courts to vacate the charge against most of the defendants or convicts.

Trump pardoned about 1,500 people who had been charged over the Jan. 6, 2021, breach.

Martin, since taking over the U.S. attorney’s office following Trump’s inauguration, has signed numerous court documents asking judges to dismiss charges against Jan. 6 defendants, pointing to Trump’s executive order.

His filing in the case of Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and some co-defendants prompted a judge to remove travel restrictions that had been imposed.

Martin, who attended Trump’s rally near the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, has served on the board of a group called the Patriot Freedom Project, which raised money to support Jan. 6 defendants and their families. He’s also listed in court filings as an attorney for at least three defendants, including one who pleaded guilty to felony charges.

Martin has written about the Jan. 6, 2021, breach on his blog, saying he watched thousands of hours of video from that day.

“If you watch it for a while you realize that 99.9% of it is normal people doing normal things: sauntering around and through the Capitol grounds and building,” he wrote.

Alexis Loeb, deputy chief of the DOJ section that prosecuted the Jan. 6 cases before leaving the government in 2024, said that Martin appears to be in his role “purely to execute on the president’s political priorities more so than the work of protecting public safety in Washington.”

Some people charged over the Jan. 6, 2021, breach have expressed gratitude to Martin. One person wrote on the social media platform X that she is now able to start the rest of her life with relief.

“My honor. Thank God not men,” Martin responded.

It’s unclear whether Trump intends to nominate Martin to the permanent post, which would require Senate confirmation. A White House spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a text message about Martin on Jan. 27.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.