Acting U.S. attorney opens inquiries into Democrats alleging possible threats to DOGE, Supreme Court justices

Ed Martin, the acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, revealed he has opened inquiries into public statements of Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader in the U.S. Senate, according to an internal memo to federal prosecutors in Washington.  

The inquiry will also review a public statement made by Rep. Robert Garcia, a second-term House Democrat from California, Garcia told CBS News.

The U.S. attorney’s memo, which was obtained by CBS News, alleges the public statements of Democratic legislators could constitute a threat to Supreme Court justices and the newly hired employees of the Trump administration’s new Department of Government Efficiency, the DOGE operation linked to the world’s richest man and close ally of President Trump, Elon Musk.

Mr. Trump appointed Martin to serve as acting U.S. attorney for D.C. hours after he was inaugurated last month. Martin, a one-time activist in the post-2020 election “stop the steal” movement, previously served as a defense attorney for some U.S. Capitol rioters. He posts on social media under the handle “Ed the Eagle.”  

Martin’s memo to his new subordinates in the U.S. attorney’s office is titled “Operation Whirlwind” and said the office would prioritize investigations into threats against public officials.  The memo alleged, “One of the most abhorrent examples was when Senator Charles Schumer led a rally to attack US Supreme Court justices. Schumer said, reading from notes in his hand:  ‘I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price. You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.'”

Martin’s memo also cited an incident months later in which a man was arrested outside the home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh, though Martin’s memo mistakenly claimed the incident happened in Washington, D.C., rather than in Maryland, and Martin’s jurisdiction is the District.

Schumer had made the statement years earlier, in March 2020, at an abortion rights rally. Martin’s memo alleged he reached out to Schumer “to investigate his threats. He has not responded to me.”

In a Feb. 6 letter to Martin, Schumer’s top aide said Schumer clarified in a Senate floor speech in March 2020 that his comment was “not a threat to physically harm anyone.”

Martin also alleged public threats were being made against DOGE employees.   

“We will protect each other,” Martin wrote. “We will protect DOGE.”

In a statement to CBS News, Garcia’s office said the U.S. attorney for D.C., “a Trump appointee and ally, sent a threatening letter to Congressman Garcia as part of an effort to silence individuals willing to oppose Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s dangerous overreach.”   

Earlier this month, Garcia, in a cable news interview said of Musk and DOGE, “What I think is really important and what the American public want is for us to bring actual weapons to this bar fight. This is an actual fight for democracy, for the future of this country. And it’s important to push back on the chairperson of this committee.”

In the statement to CBS News on Thursday, Garcia said, “No reasonable person would view my comments as a threat. We are living in a dangerous time, and elected members of Congress must have the right to forcefully oppose the Trump administration. We will not be silenced.”

Martin’s office did not respond to requests for comment from CBS News. Two sources inside the Justice Department told CBS News Martin’s memo to staffers breaks from a Justice Department policy by declaratively and openly detailing a pending inquiry.