DC Prosecutor Ed Martin Opens Election Accountability Unit (1)

Washington’s top prosecutor, who has amplified false claims of election fraud, said he’s formed a special unit to uphold US election laws that has already started one investigation.

Acting US Attorney Ed Martin announced the new unit, which he called the “Special Unit: Election Accountability,” or SUEA, in an office-wide email on Monday, viewed by Bloomberg Law.

The unit “has already begun one investigation and will continue to make sure that all the election laws of our nation are obeyed,” Martin wrote. “We have a special role at this important time.” The email doesn’t provide details on that ongoing investigation.

Martin highlighted his own background two decades ago on the elections board in St. Louis, where he said he “uncovered voter registration fraud” by ACORN, an association of nonprofits that came under fire by conservatives during the 2008 election cycle for its voter registration drives.

“Nearly 20 years later, Americans do not have confidence in our election systems. One of the best ways to restore that confidence is to protect our systems and demand accountability.”

He told attorneys with a background or interest in election law to “feel free to email me.”

Martin, who’s been nominated to permanently lead the D.C. US attorney’s office, has promoted claims that the 2020 presidential election that Donald Trump lost was stolen. In posts on the social media platform X, Martin said that the November 2020 election was “rigged” and that Donald Trump won it.

He personally represented a participant in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol during certification of that election and recently oversaw the dismissal of those cases after Trump broadly pardoned Jan. 6 defendants.

Martin also alleged voter fraud after he lost a congressional race to represent a district in Missouri in 2010, according to local news reports at the time.

Since taking the helm of the US attorney’s office in Washington, Martin has also announced an investigation into certain Jan. 6 prosecutions, demoted supervisors, and threatened the dean of Georgetown University’s law school over its diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.

A spokesperson for the D.C. US attorney’s office declined to comment.