Trump-Appointed DC Attorney Offers to Protect Musk’s DOGE Staff
(Bloomberg) -- The newly appointed interim US attorney for the District of Columbia said he would take legal action against anyone who impedes or threatens Elon Musk’s government-efficiency staff, raising the stakes after repeated confrontations between the group and civil servants at various US agencies.
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“Our initial review of the evidence presented to us indicates that certain individuals and/or groups have committed acts that appear to violate the law in targeting DOGE employees,” Edward Martin said in a statement from the US attorney’s office that was posted to X, the social-media site Musk owns, on Monday night.
“We are in contact with the FBI and other law enforcement partners to proceed rapidly. We also have our prosecutors preparing,” Martin added. The statement did not provide further details or say what evidence had been reviewed.
Musk early Monday sketched out plans for aggressive cuts to US spending and regulations that include wiping out the US Agency for International Development.
In a letter he posted to X earlier from a personal account, Martin asked Musk, the world’s richest man, to “utilize me and my staff to assist in protecting DOGE work and the DOGE workers.” He said threats or confrontations that hamper the work may break the law.
The letter didn’t cite any incidents other than to say Martin was aware that some DOGE staff have been “targeted publicly.” Yet it amounted to a warning to anyone who might seek to resist staff with Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency.”
Several such episodes occurred in recent days, including when staff at the USAID tried to block DOGE staff from accessing classified information, and were later put on administrative leave. Last week, the Treasury Department’s most senior career employee resigned, reportedly after a clash with DOGE staff over access to the agency’s sensitive payment systems.
President Donald Trump appointed Martin interim US attorney for the District of Columbia on Jan. 20. He is the co-author of the book The Conservative Case for Trump along with conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly. The US House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2020, attack said he helped support the “Stop the Steal” movement to overturn former President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.
(Updates with Martin statement, starting in second paragraph.)
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