Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as the permanent top federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia is promising to use the full breadth of his powers to “protect DOGE” and “hold accountable those who threaten workers.”
In an email obtained by Rolling Stone, former “Stop the Steal” organizer turned interim U.S. Attorney Ed Martin claimed that members of Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) were receiving “despicable” threats.
“We are the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s office; we are the guardians of federal workers. You and I must do whatever possible to ensure that government work is safe for all involved,” Martin wrote Wednesday, as his boss dubiously and unceremoniously fires tens of thousands of federal workers en masse, with little oversight, accountability, or rationale.
“We must protect our cops, our prosecutors, our DOGE workers, the President, and all other government employees from threats against our nation,” Martin added.
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The attorney cited a 2020 speech from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) delivered as the Supreme Court considered an abortion rights case, in which the senator addressed conservative members of the court, telling them that they had “released the whirlwind and you will pay the price. You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.”
Schumer later clarified that the comments referred to political repercussions for their actions, but Republicans portrayed the remarks as an incitement of violence against conservative members of the Supreme Court. In his email, Martin cited the incident as “one of the most abhorrent examples” of threats against government officials in recent memory, and suggested he had opened an investigation into Schumer. “I reached out to Senator Schumer to investigate his threats. He has not yet responded to me,” he wrote.
Martin added that he would be naming his efforts to clamp down on “threats” against federal workers after a line in Schumer’s speech: “Operation Whirlwind.”
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“My initiative to hold accountable those who threaten workers is named Operation Whirlwind. We will stop the storm of threats against officials at all levels,” Martin wrote, adding that he was planning a meeting with “our Threat Portal team” to discuss next steps.
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Earlier this month, Martin wrote a letter to Musk vowing that his office would “pursue any and all legal action against anyone who impedes your work or threatens your people.”
“We will not act like the previous administration who looked the other way as the Antifa and BLM rioters as well as thugs with guns trashed our capital city. We will protect DOGE and other workers no matter what,” he wrote.
Martin did not provide specific examples of threats against DOGE workers. What is clear is that throughout his career, Martin has crafted an extremely selective — and politically convenient — definition of what constitutes a threat of violence.
Martin — who previously defended Jan. 6 rioters and who is now at the forefront of Trump’s efforts to use the Justice Department to rewrite the history of the Capitol insurrection — did not, for some reason, cite Trump’s instigation of the Jan. 6 assault as an example of a politician’s rhetoric leading to attacks on government officials.
Instead, Martin lamented in the email that his office has been “flooded with threats against those who helped free the Jan. 6 prisoners.” While Martin waxed about “protecting” cops and law enforcement officials, he had no issue with Trump’s blanket pardon for Jan. 6 defendants who assaulted law enforcement officials and threatened lawmakers with death. In fact, upon his appointment as interim D.C. U.S. attorney, Martin fired dozens of DOJ prosecutors involved in bringing Jan. 6 cases to trial.
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Martin’s actions are just some examples of Trump delivering on a core 2024 campaign promise: to erase as much of the Department of Justice’s independence as possible, and then to use the department as a tool for protecting his friends and attacking his political enemies.
During the 2024 campaign, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter, Trump repeatedly told close associates that if he returned to power, he’d ensure his new Justice Department launched a wave of reviews of ongoing criminal cases and prosecutions of “our people.” He wasn’t just talking about the Jan. 6 rioters’ cases, or the famous federal criminal cases against him and his allies; he was also explicitly talking about cases against Republican Party or Trump-friendly figures — cases that had absolutely nothing to do with Trump or Jan. 6. In private conversation, he’d baselessly claim these probes were Democratic retaliation for their proximity to Trump and therefore “illegal.”
During the four years of Joe Biden’s presidency, an array of conservative lawyers and top Trump advisers spent an inordinate amount of time cooking up increasingly novel legal theories and blueprints for how to wield the Justice Department against Trump’s foes, particularly the prosecutors who crossed him, including Alvin Bragg, Fani Willis, Jack Smith, and Letitia James. One such idea, according to two other sources familiar with the matter, was to potentially sic the DOJ civil rights division on some of these prosecutors and Trump nemeses — under the premise that the prosecutors had violated Trump’s civil rights.
About a month after the 2024 presidential election, Trump announced that he would nominate one of his own lawyers, Harmeet Dhillon, for the DOJ role of Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. He also nominated staunch ally Matt Gaetz to serve as attorney general, before Gaetz pulled his name from contention amid a firestorm of scrutiny around a congressional probe into his alleged sexual relationship with a minor. Trump then nominated Pam Bondi, one of his impeachment lawyers, to fill the role.
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Bondi was confirmed and sworn in earlier this month. Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday directing independent government agencies to abide by his and Bondi’s interpretation of the law — not that of the court system.
Associated Students of GCU President Judah Floyd (left) and Vice President Gracie Zimbardi (right) participated in a workshop with Arizona Congressman Eli Crane at the Campus Victory Forum conference in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., has been a popular spot this summer, especially since it’s the nation’s 250th anniversary. And it’s where many Grand Canyon University students have traveled, including the campus’s student body leaders.
Associated Students of GCU President Judah Floyd and Vice President Gracie Zimbardi traveled to Washington, D.C., to participate in the Campus Victory Forum conference and celebrate the country’s 250th anniversary of signing the Declaration of Independence.
“It was a humbling opportunity to be able to represent GCU and be poured into by so many admirable Christian leaders,” Floyd said. “It reminds me of the leader I want to be as a Christ follower and as someone who’s been put in a position to have influence on the students of GCU.”
Outside of conference sessions, Judah Floyd and Gracie Zimbardi explored Washington, D.C.
The three-day conference was organized by Campus Victory, an organization empowering collegiate leaders to step into civic engagement. It featured workshops, sessions and activities that equipped students with practical tools to step into their leadership roles.
Roughly 250 student leaders from universities all around the country traveled to the nation’s capital for the conference, where they met and heard from politicians and community leaders, including U.S. Rep. Eli Crane of Arizona.
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He addressed the young crowd with a personal testimony about his experience in public leadership and gave an empowering message from 1 Timothy 4:12, which reads, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.”
He encouraged students to boldly press on in their positions despite their young age.
Sharing a home state with Crane was made extra special to Floyd and Zimbardi when Crane invited all Arizona students backstage to meet and have conversations with him.
“He was phenomenal,” Zimbardi said. “He talked about how being firm in our faith is so important in this time, and though we are young leaders, we do have the knowledge, experience and people to look up to, so use it. It was so inspiring to hear from him.”
Gracie Zimbardi (left) displayed her patriotism with student leaders from other universities.
When sessions concluded, students explored significant landmarks, including memorials, museums, and federal and local government buildings.
Everything was decked out in red, white and blue, with flags and banners hanging everywhere to commemorate the milestone anniversary.
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Celebratory events unfolded one after another on Independence Day, finishing with the largest fireworks show in history. Some 850,000 pyrotechnic effects were detonated over 40 minutes, with thousands gathered for the once-in-a-lifetime event.
Floyd waited five hours in line to attend Salute to America 250, which concluded yearlong celebratory festivities. The six-hour event on the National Mall featured presidential remarks, musical performances and military flyovers.
While in Washington, D.C., Judah Floyd (center) met with other student leaders.
“President Donald Trump talked about how America is really a land of people of faith and people who overcome challenges time after time,” Floyd said. “It really rekindled in us the spirit of liberty that we all carry as Americans and the importance of defending that liberty for generations to come.”
Military veterans were brought onstage and honored for their commitment to serving the country. Flags from every generation of America were displayed, and singer Lee Greenwood led the crowd in singing “God Bless the U.S.A.”
The World Cup was happening at the same time. While Floyd and Zimbardi were in Washington, D.C., they witnessed another level of patriotism when a Team USA vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina watch party, complete with a projector screen, was organized in front of the U.S. Congress.
“Thousands of people all wearing U.S.A. jerseys were shouting and screaming and spraying water in the sky when we scored a goal. It was deafening,” Floyd said.
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Judah Floyd and Gracie Zimbardi celebrated the Fourth of July in Washington, D.C., with student leaders from around the country.
As the start of academic year approaches, Floyd and Zimbardi’s tenure as student body president and vice president will soon commence.
The duo said that participating in the Campus Victory Forum conference, networking with student body presidents and vice presidents from other universities, and witnessing everyone’s patriotism prepared them to lead with passion and boldness.
“It means a lot to me that someone in this organization thought of us, GCU, and said, ‘We need them there.’ Zimbardi said. “It was really unique hearing from other students about how they do things at other universities.
“We got to sit down and spitball back and forth. We talked about things like, ‘Wow, that’s what works for you? We are struggling in that area, do you mind if we try it?’ Having conversations like that is extremely helpful, and it is cool how unified we can all become.”
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Dozens of Iowa National Guard soldiers leaving Iowa today will spend the next six months serving in Washington, D.C..
Last August, President Trump issued an executive order declaring there was an epidemic of crime in the nation’s capitol and he immediately mobilized National Guard troops from the District of Columbia. The Pentagon then started asking state guard units to deploy to D.C. and made a request of Governor Kim Reynolds last year. “They asked earlier and I said no because we had one of the largest deployments that we’ve had for a long, long time and I just felt we were stretched pretty thin,” Reynolds said.
In May of last year, nearly 2000 Iowa National Guard soldiers were deployed to the Middle East. The final group of those soldiers returned to Iowa last month. Reynolds said the Pentagon “circled back” recently and asked her to send a group of Iowa Guard soldiers to D.C. and she’s deployed 120 Iowa Guard soldiers to D.C. “to ensure the safety and security” of people who are in the nation’s capitol, “especially with everything that’s going on with the 250th birthday of our country,” Reynolds said, “and so we were able to participate and do our share.”
Reynolds told reporters the federal government will pay the entire cost of the deployment. Reynolds will speak this morning at a private send off ceremony for the Iowa Guard soldiers before they leave for D.C. There were over 5000 National Guard troops in Washington this past Sunday, including 185 from Nebraska and over 100 from Minnesota.
DES MOINES, Iowa (Gray Media Iowa State Capitol Bureau) — One hundred and twenty members of the Iowa National Guard are leaving Friday for Washington, D.C., where they will assist with security measures and America 250 celebrations at the request of the Trump administration.
Reynolds initially said no
Gov. Kim Reynolds said she had previously declined the Trump administration’s request, citing the strain of one of the state’s largest recent deployments.
“They asked earlier, and I said no because we had one of the largest deployments that we’ve had for a long, long time and I just felt that we were stretched pretty thin,” Reynolds said.
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Nearly 2,000 Iowa National Guard members had spent a year or more deployed to the Middle East. Those soldiers have since returned home.
Guard members now available following Middle East return
With those troops back, Reynolds said Iowa was in a position to fulfill the president’s request.
“We have them all back. They circled back, especially with everything that’s going on with the 250th uh birthday uh of our country. And so we were able to participate and do our share,” Reynolds said.
Different states have sent National Guard members to Washington, D.C., since last August.
Reynolds said the federal government will pay the costs of Iowa’s deployment to Washington, D.C.
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