More than 100 former spies and intelligence officers say foreign adversaries could take advantage of a new casino proposed in the Washington, D.C. area to penetrate national security.

The proposed casino would sit in Tysons Corner, less than 20 miles west of the nation’s capital in Northern Virginia. The area that is home to the CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The Pentagon and offices of various defense contractors are also nearby.

In a letter addressed to Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and members of the Virginia State Assembly, the National Security Leaders for Fairfax group warns that the casino could attract organized crime and that foreign adversaries could have opportunities to blackmail U.S. intelligence officers and other military personnel.

“With the Washington D.C. area having the greatest concentration of the most sensitive security clearances in the country, we urge you to immediately and categorically reject the proliferation of gambling establishments in Northern Virginia … as posing an unacceptable health and national security hazard, whose socioeconomic costs significantly outweigh any short-term increase in revenue,” the letter reads.

Anne Gruner, who spent 25 years at the CIA and co-chairs the National Security Leaders or Fairfax, worries that easy access to a nearby casino could lead federal workers and contractors to develop an issue with gambling, which could be exploited by foreign adversaries.

“These employees would become the focus of any intelligence collection and could become susceptible to extortion,” Gruner said.

Throughout her career, Gruner said she’s seen “security issues, problems with drinking” and other activities people in the intelligence community “shouldn’t do.”

But others argue there are already safeguards.

Dan Meyer, a partner at Tully Rinckey, PLLC, a law firm specializing in military and security clearance, says “elite” federal workers have to abide by a set of 13 guidelines to get and keep a security clearance.

The guidelines relate to issues like a person’s sexual behavior, alcohol consumption, criminal conduct and their financial interests.

“There are a lot of clearances, but not everybody can get them and not everybody can keep them,” Meyer said. “So that elite has to curtail its behavior while the rest of society decides what it’s going to do in the various types of commercial activities it promotes.”

Plus, he says there are checks in place to flag issues related to gambling.

“If you win more than $10,000 in a casino, an e-mail is automatically sent to your security officer through the Financial Crimes Reporting Center,” Meyer said. “So if you have a great day at MGM Grand over there at National Harbor and you win $10,050, [on] Monday you’re going to be talking to your security officer and they’re going to ask you about your behavior and whether everything is all right.”

Plans for the casino advanced to the full senate in the Virginia General Assembly after a committee vote Tuesday. If the bill makes its way out of the full Assembly and is signed by the governor, Fairfax County’s Board of Supervisors would call a referendum, giving voters the final say on the project.

The proposal has drawn concerns from area residents about traffic congestion and the project’s accountability. The nearest major casino to D.C. is the MGM National Harbor Hotel & Casino just south of the capital in Oxon Hill, Md.

This article was edited by Majd Al-Waheidi.

WASHINGTON (AP) — For years, conservative activist Ed Martin has promoted Donald Trump’s false claims about a stolen 2020 election, railed against the prosecution of the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol and represented some of them in court.

Now he’s leading the office that prosecuted the nearly 1,600 defendants charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot before Trump — now back in the White House — ended the largest investigation in Justice Department history with the stroke of a pen.

Martin’s first week as the interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia ushered in a dizzying sea change for the office’s rank-and-file prosecutors. He oversaw the dismissals of hundreds of Jan. 6 cases and celebrated Trump’s pardons for police officers and anti-abortion activists who had been prosecuted by attorneys in the office. And on Monday, Martin ordered an internal review of prosecutors’ use of a felony charge brought against hundreds of Capitol rioters, directing employees to hand over files, emails and other documents, according to an email obtained by The Associated Press.

The appointment of Martin, the former head of the Missouri Republican Party, underscores Trump’s commitment to installing loyalists in key positions at the Justice Department, which the Republican president contends was “weaponized” against him and his supporters by President Joe Biden’s administration. Mike Davis, a Trump ally, called Martin in a social media post a “bold and fearless” leader who will “clean house” at the office, which Davis described as “an epicenter of the lawfare and political persecution.”

Martin told employees in an email that he was alongside Trump in the Oval Office when the president granted clemency last week to two Washington police officers prosecuted by the U.S. attorney’s office for their roles in the deadly chase of a man on a moped and the subsequent cover-up. And in a social media post last week, Martin appeared to describe federal prosecutors as “the President’s lawyers.”

“Based on the public reporting, it appears that he is in this role purely to execute on the president’s political priorities more so than the work of protecting public safety in Washington,” said Alexis Loeb, who was deputy chief of the section that prosecuted the Jan. 6 cases before leaving the government last year.

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 Monday.

Prosecutors were directed last week to refer to Martin in court papers simply as “U.S. Attorney Ed Martin” after some filed documents describing him as the “acting” top prosecutor, according to a former federal prosecutor who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of persistent threats of violence.

Shortly after Trump’s sweeping clemency order, Martin’s name showed up last on a flurry of court filings seeking to dismiss the pending Jan. 6 prosecutions, including cases against people charged with assaulting police officers.

One week later, Martin announced a “special project” to review the use of an obstruction felony charge brought against hundreds of Capitol riot defendants. Prosecutors had to drop the obstruction of an official proceeding charge in many cases after a Supreme Court ruling last year limiting the offense, finding it must include proof that defendants tried to tamper with or destroy documents.

Calling the use of the charge “a great failure of our office,” Martin ordered attorneys to hand over to two supervisors all relevant “files, documents, notes, emails and other information,” according to a copy of the email reviewed by the AP. He ordered the supervisors to provide a preliminary report on the matter to him by Friday.

“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.

Trump’s clemency action led to the release of more than 200 people in federal custody, including people seen on camera engaging in hand-to-hand combat with police and violently attacking law enforcement with makeshift weapons.

Vice President JD Vance, who previously said violent rioters should “obviously” not be pardoned, defended Trump’s action in a CBS interview that aired Sunday. Vance alleged, without providing evidence, that the Jan. 6 defendants were “denied constitutional protections.”

Ashley Akers, who prosecuted dozens of Jan. 6 cases before leaving the Justice Department on Friday, said Vance is “misleading the American public in an attempt to excuse the unjustifiable blanket pardon of rioters who overtook the United States Capitol.”

“It’s telling that he has not identified a single example of how these defendants’ constitutional rights have been violated,” Akers said. “The evidence in the public record speaks for itself.”

After Trump’s clemency order, Martin urged a judge to drop restrictions barring Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and several other Jan. 6 defendants from entering Washington and the Capitol building. Martin said that if a judge barred visits to Washington from people pardoned by Joe Biden — like the former president’s brother, Jim, or Gen. Mark Milley — “I believe most Americans would object.”

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta changed course Monday, ruling that Rhodes and other Oath Keepers with commuted prison sentences are not bound by the travel restrictions he ordered last week.

Martin spoke at a “Stop the Steal” rally on the eve of the riot and served on the board of a group called the Patriot Freedom Project, which has raised money to support Jan. 6 defendants and their families. Court filings listed him as an attorney for at least three Capitol riot defendants, including a Proud Boys member who pleaded guilty to felony charges.

A day before the Capitol riot, Martin led an audience in a “Stop the Steal” chant during a rally in Washington, D.C.

“What they’re stealing is not just an election. It’s our future and it’s our republic,” he told the crowd.

The next day, Martin attended Trump’s Jan. 6 rally near the White House and posted messages on social media about the crowd.

“I’m at the Capitol right now,” Martin tweeted after the riot erupted. “Rowdy crowd but nothing out of hand. Ignore the #FakeNews.”

On a blog, he has parroted some of Trump’s rhetoric about the deep state, a politically weaponized Justice Department and the events of Jan. 6, 2021. Martin said he has watched thousands of hours of video from that day.

“And, 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.

Happy Monday, DC!

Take a pause from your new year diet plan to indulge in Winter Restaurant Week specials. Also, there’s a ton of Lunar New Year celebrations happening around town, and a new LEGO exhibition all ages can enjoy.

Best Things to Do This Week and Weekend

January 27–February 2

1. 1. Metropolitan Washington Winter Restaurant Week. Here’s a good way to add some variety to this week’s meal plan: Winter Restaurant Week is back. Dine at more than 350 local eateries, restaurants, and bars for lunch, brunch, and dinner at a discount price. Some new participating restaurants to check out include Adams Morgan’s Tail Up Goat, American restaurant A. Kitchen + Bar, and Arrels inside the recently opened Arlo Washington DC hotel (Mon-Sun, prices vary, multiple DC-area locations).
   2. DC Chinese Lunar New Year Parade. The Year of the Snake festivities continue around town this week with one of DC’s biggest seasonal events. The Chinese Lunar New Year Parade will strut through Chinatown to spotlight cultural and community performers, treats from local eateries, and a finale firecracker show in the heart of H Street (Sun, free, Downtown).
   3. “The Art of the Brick” exhibit. View colorful and intricate LEGO sculptures at The Art of the Brick Washington DC. The traveling exhibition at the Rhode Island Center showcases 130 LEGO-crafted creations that reimagine masterpieces like Michelangelo’s “David,” Van Gogh’s “Starry Night,” and Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa.” For families, there’s a creation zone where youngsters can build their own piece (opens January 30, $25, Brentwood).
   4. Job play. Signature Theatre presents the DC premiere of Max Wolf Friedlich’s psychological thriller Job. The shocking play follows a woman’s downward spiral with a therapist after her workplace meltdown goes viral (Tues through March 16, $40+, Arlington).
   5. Lunar New Year Family Celebration. The Smithsonian American Art Museum is throwing a Lunar New Year jamboree featuring six live performances and traditional Chinese and Korean art demonstrations. The entire family can see musical and dance productions from groups like Washington CYC Lion Dance Team, K-Pop dance clubs from American University and George Washington University, and a Simba Dojang martial arts demo (Sat, free, registration encouraged).
   6. Song of the North at Strathmore. Multimedia artist Hamid Rahmanian creates a moving stage adaptation of an 11th-century Persian epic poem. The ancient tale of a knight who falls in love with an enemy princess comes to life with a cast that includes nine performers and nearly 500 puppets (Fri, $28+, Bethesda).

Want More Things to Do?

Arts and culture:

• Cozy up with hot cocoa and marshmallows, and then join a guided paint session at Palette 22 (Mon, $65, Arlington).
• Model and actress Brooke Shields dives into her new memoir with Dr. Sharon Malone at Sixth & I (Mon, $12+ for virtual, $50 for ticket and book, Penn Quarter, virtual).
• Award-winning author Ruth Franklin discusses her new innovative biography about the The Many Lives of Anne Frank (Wed, free, Northwest DC).
• Filmmaker Kristen Lovell and photographer Samantha Box discuss the combination of photography and advocacy at the National Museum of Women in the Arts (Wed, $25, Downtown).
• Browse new cars at The Washington, DC Auto Show (Fri through February 9, $15+, Walter E. Washington Convention Center).
• Coauthors Tre’vell Anderson and Jarrett Hill of the book Historically Black Phrases host a hilarious game show at MLK Memorial Library (Sat, free with registration, MLK Library).

Community and heritage:

• Feast on fortune cookies while watching a performance from Hung Ci Lion Dance Troupe (Tues, free, Rosslyn).
• There’s family fun, food, and dance at Eden Center’s Tet celebration (Wed, free, Falls Church).
• Watch a fashion and an array of traditional Asian dance performances at Tysons Corner Center (Sat, free, Tysons).
• Take a free yoga class, and then munch on Lunar New Year happy hour specials at Upside on Moore (Sat, free, Rosslyn).
• Walk in the footsteps of the father of Black history Carter G. Woodson through Logan Circle and Shaw with actor Darius Wallace (Sat, free, registration required, Logan Circle).

Theater and shows:

• National Ballet of China presents a two-act dance performance to Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker score (Wed-Sun, $30+, Kennedy Center).
• Sit in on Shakespeare-themed staged readings, panel discussions, and workshops at The Reading Room Festival (Thurs-Sun, $150 for pass, Capitol Hill).
• Rising star comic Jack Tucker does standup at the Kennedy Center (Thurs, $20+, Kennedy Center).
• Opera conductor Gianandrea Noseda brings Samuel Barber’s passionate production Vanessa to life in concert (Thurs, Sat, $15+, Kennedy Center).
• Broadway Center Stage: Schmigadoon! musical follows the story of two doctors on a road trip to save their failing relationship (Fri through February 9, $59+, Kennedy Center).
• The Come From Away musical tells the true story of airplane passengers stranded on Newfoundland after the 9/11 attacks (Fri-Sun, $63+, Tysons).

Music and concerts:

• Baltimore Symphony Orchestra performs the world premiere of Elevators (Tues, $14+, Bethesda).
• The Anderson Brothers play a jazzy concert packed with Duke Ellington hits (Wed, free, tickets available onsite first-come first-serve, Kennedy Center).
• British musical trio Jamie xx plays live at the Anthem (Thurs, $50+, Wharf).
• Tickets are selling fast to see Iranian pop vocalist Marjan Farsad at Miracle Theatre (Thurs, $45, Eastern Market).
• Violinist Paul Huang performs symphonic tunes at Takoma Park SDA Church (Sat, $35+, Takoma Park).
• Commemorate Black History Month at the annual MLK tribute concert Living the Dream … Singing the Dream (Sun, $28+, Kennedy Center).

Bites and beverages:

• Dine on ceviche, chicken dumplings, raw oysters, and other Lunar New Year specials in between glimpses of a ceremonial lion dance at Tiger Fork (Sat, free entry, food extra, Shaw).

Things to do with kids:

• Go ice skating with the family at Water Park’s Winter Wonderland (through February 21, $35, Arlington).
• Kiddos can meet live animals, make Lunar New Year crafts, and hike at Long Branch Nature Center (Sat, $9, Arlington).
• Families can participate in a scavenger hunt, make lanterns, and color zodiac animals at the Smithsonian (Sat, free, registration required, Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art).
• There’s martial arts, crafts, music, and more Year of the Snake fun at Falls Church Communikids (Sat-Sun, free, but rsvp required, Falls Church).

If you enjoyed these events, please don’t forget to share this post with a friend on social media, and sign up for our newsletter for more things to do.