Letitia James' lawyer blasts DOJ official's 'bizarre' 'stunt' at New York AG's house

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A lawyer for New York Attorney General Letitia James wrote a scathing letter this week to Department of Justice official Ed Martin, excoriating him for visiting James' house and for suggesting she resign from her position.

Abbe Lowell, a prominent white-collar lawyer representing James, told Martin in a letter obtained by Fox News that Martin's stop by the attorney general's residence in Brooklyn last week was a "truly bizarre, made-for-media stunt." 

"This orchestrated photo opportunity for your go-to media outlet, during an investigation, with the intent and/or result to prejudice Ms. James is outside the bounds of DOJ and ethics rules," Lowell wrote.

Martin's visit was documented by the New York Post on Friday. He later told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo he wanted to "lay eyes on it" and "see the property." Martin shared a photo on Wednesday on X of the visit.

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Lowell's letter comes after the DOJ initiated two grand jury investigations into James, one in the Northern District of New York related to her civil fraud lawsuit against President Donald Trump and one related to mortgage fraud allegations in Virginia, where James helped her niece purchase a home in 2023.

Martin, who is serving as Pardon Attorney for the DOJ and leading a "weaponization" task force, was given special prosecutorial privileges to carry out the mortgage fraud probe into James as well as one into Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., in Maryland. Both James and Schiff have denied wrongdoing and blasted the investigations as political retribution.

Lowell echoed that sentiment in his letter this week and noted that Martin made the unusual move of calling for James to resign amid his federal investigation into her.

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"Just four days into your role, no search for facts or questions of law; instead, you twice called for Ms. James to resign," Lowell wrote. "DOJ has firm policies against using investigations and against using prosecutorial power for achieving political ends. This is ever more the case when that demand is made to seek political revenge against a public official in the opposite party of the Administration. Let me be clear: that will not happen here."

Martin called for James to step down in a letter to Lowell earlier this month, which Lowell said violated codes of conduct and court precedents.

"At this time, Letitia James would best serve the 'good of the state and nation' by resigning from office to address the issues in the referral. … I would take that as an act of good faith," Martin wrote.

Martin described his letter as "confidential" and shared a social media post featuring it on his X account.

Martin said a media leak of a letter Lowell wrote in April was "professionally unacceptable and personally insulting."

"To that end, I specifically ask that you redouble your efforts to not leak this confidential letter," Martin said. "I prefer not to have to move in court to stop you or your client from leaking."

A DOJ spokesperson and a representative for Lowell did not respond to a request for comment for this story.