A nonpartisan watchdog has expanded its lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), claiming it has continually refused to expedite and produce records pertaining to President Donald Trump ally Edward “Ed” Martin.
American Oversight, the nonprofit group that since its 2017 launch has obtained and published tens of thousands of government documents, said Wednesday that its amended lawsuit against the Trump administration is a response to the institution’s “ongoing failure” in response to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests involving Martin.
Efforts in recent weeks including court battles legally pursuing the DOJ to produce and expedite the records, however, have not come to fruition. American Oversight alleges that the DOJ has not proven intent to preserve potentially damning materials related to Martin.
The original lawsuit targeting Martin—the DOJ’s pardon attorney and Weaponization Working Group director—was filed Dec. 3, 2025, shortly after allegations from Democrats that Martin violated federal law by concealing and destroying official communications related to the Working Group’s so-called politically-motivated probes.
“When senior Justice Department officials who openly acknowledge carrying out the president’s personal agenda in directing retaliatory criminal probes face credible allegations of record destruction, transparency becomes more essential than ever to the rule of law,” Chioma Chukwu, executive director of American Oversight, said in a statement. “The public has a right to know how Ed Martin is wielding power at the DOJ to advance Trump’s political retribution campaign.”
A DOJ spokesperson declined to comment to Military.com on the lawsuit.
A source familiar with the lawsuit who spoke to Military.com on background described Martin as a “central figure in many of the administration’s most controversial DOJ efforts…including using the DOJ to go after the president’s perceived enemies, to chase election fraud conspiracies related to 2020, etc.”
“He may not be a household name but he has far-reaching impact,” the source said.
Who Is Ed Martin?
Ed Martin may not be a household name within the Trump administration, though he does wield power and influence.
The New Jersey native and former acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia was appointed a U.S. pardon attorney by President Donald Trump on May 14, 2025. He has no previous prosecutorial experience, however, and was vocal in Trump’s favor as part of the “Stop the Steal” contingent claiming Trump won the 2020 election.
Martin was also chosen by Trump to serve as the director of the DOJ’s Weaponization Working Group, established last February by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi with Martin tasked to look into the previous four years of alleged political improprieties within the justice system against Trump.
The Working Group, in turn, has investigated key figures who have been Trump’s ire in the past. They include former special counsel Jack Smith, New York Attorney General Letitia James, former FBI Director James Comey; U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Smith previously investigated Trump for his alleged involvement in the events of Jan. 6, 2021, while James secured a multi-million-dollar judgment in a fraud case against Trump and his organization. Others, like Bragg, brought forward the ultimately successful criminal case against the president that alleged improper relations with, and “hush money” payments to, adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
Allegations of Stealing, Destroying Evidence
The amended 145-page lawsuit filed Jan. 14 alleges that American Oversight “submitted several requests to DOJ” over the past two months but has not “received either no determination or denials in response to its requests for expedited processing, and no records in response to any of its FOIA requests.”
Those requests were sent to the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, as well as the Office of Pardon Attorney and the Office of Information Policy.
American Oversight certified the requested records are urgently needed to inform the public concerning actual or alleged government activity. American Oversight further certified that the requested records concern a matter of widespread and exceptional media interest in which there exist possible questions about the government’s integrity which affect public confidence.
The lawsuit stems from allegations made by Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin, ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, who on Nov. 17, 2025, demanded that Martin “preserve and produce records following credible allegations that Martin has violated federal law by concealing and destroying official communications related to the group’s politically-motivated probes.”
Raskin said then that he and his staff “received credible allegations that [Martin has] been using personal devices, platforms and applications that do not adhere to federal laws and DOJ policies regarding records retention to conduct official DOJ business.” It was described as a “deliberate evasion of relevant rules of record retention.
It was also called a “cover-up” with Martin at the center, allegedly using personal devices and encrypted messaging platforms—including disappearing messages—to conduct official DOJ business in an effort to evade federal records laws.
The Weaponization Working Group you lead operates without any transparency or accountability. We do not know how many personnel are assigned to the Weaponization Working Group, what investigations it is conducting, or anything about its budget. -- Jamie Raskin
“That dark wall of secrecy is profoundly troubling given that the Weaponization Working Group is apparently being used to pursue politically motivated investigations of President Trump’s perceived enemies," Raskin added.
