Trump's top prosecutor in DC demotes several supervisors who handled
politically sensitive cases
[March 01, 2025]
By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER, ERIC TUCKER and BYRON TAU
WASHINGTON (AP) — Several senior leaders in Washington's federal
prosecutors office have been demoted to jobs handling misdemeanors or
other low-level matters, in the latest move by President Donald Trump's
U.S. attorney to roil the office that oversaw the massive prosecution of
the U.S. Capitol attack, three people familiar with the matter said
Friday.
Interim U.S. Attorney Ed Martin's move to reassign at least seven of the
most senior and experienced prosecutors has shocked lawyers in the
office, which was already shaken by the firings of a slew of lawyers who
handled Jan. 6 cases. Among those being reassigned include several
prosecutors who handled or oversaw politically sensitive cases involving
the Jan. 6 riot and Trump allies Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon.
The prosecutors were informed in an email that they were being
reassigned to work on misdemeanor cases or moved to the Early Case
Assessment Section, which evaluates new cases and handles early court
proceedings, like arraignments in Superior Court.
“Let me be clear: this change is not temporary,” Martin told attorneys
being moved to misdemeanor cases, according to an email obtained by The
Associated Press. Martin said “misdemeanors does important work and
needs assistance.”
A spokesperson for the D.C. U.S. Attorney's Office didn't immediately
respond to a request for comment. It was not immediately clear who would
replace the supervisors being reassigned.
Those demoted include Greg Rosen, who was chief of the Capitol siege
section, which prosecuted the cases stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021,
riot, three people familiar with the matter said. Others include two
lawyers who helped secure seditious conspiracy convictions against Oath
Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and former Proud Boys national chairman
Enrique Tarrio. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because
they were not authorized to discuss the personnel moves.
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Ed Martin speaks at an event at the Capitol in Washington, June 13,
2023. (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades, File)
Another supervisor targeted was John Crabb, a longtime fixture in
the office who participated over the years in multiple high-profile
case, including the prosecution arising from the attack on the
diplomatic compound in Benghazi and more recently cases against
Navarro and Bannon.
Also demoted was Elizabeth Aloi, chief of the public corruption and
civil rights unit, who prosecuted Navarro on contempt of Congress
charges for refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation
into Jan. 6 attack.
Martin, a conservative activist who echoed Trump's bogus 2020
election fraud claims, has upended the office since his appointment
last month as interim U.S. attorney. He has described federal
prosecutors as the “president's lawyers" and forced the chief of the
office's criminal division to resign after a dispute over a
directive that she scrutinize the awarding of a government contract
during the Biden administration.
Trump announced earlier this month that he was nominating Martin to
the post, which will require Senate confirmation. Trump said Martin
“has been doing a great job as Interim U.S. Attorney, fighting
tirelessly to restore Law and Order, and make our Nation’s Capital
Safe and Beautiful Again.”
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