Legal Issues
D.C. U.S. attorney targets Ukraine whistleblower Rep. Vindman

The lawyer for the twin brother of former Trump national security aide Alex Vindman blasts interim U.S. attorney Ed Martin for a “transparent” attempt at political retaliation against figures in Trump’s first impeachment.

March 11, 2025 at 7:22 p.m. EDT


Eugene Vindman and his wife, Cindy, take the stage to address his supporters in Fredericksburg, Virginia, on Nov. 5, 2024. (Parker Michels-Boyce/For The Washington Post)

By Spencer S. Hsu

Interim D.C. U.S. attorney Ed Martin has sent another letter to a Democratic congressman and critic of President Donald Trump, demanding information in what Democratic lawmakers say is a potential abuse of his prosecutorial power. ... Martin demanded that Rep. Eugene Vindman (D-Virginia) provide information about a business founded by Vindman and his brother to help arm Ukraine to fight Russia. Martin asked for detailed ownership and government funding records of the business, called Trident Support LLC, where Eugene Vindman served as president and his twin brother, Alexander Vindman, was chief executive. Martin also asked about $150,000 that Vindman disclosed receiving from Georgetown University.

In a statement released by his office, Vindman said, “Since he’s become President, Trump’s been focused on weaponizing government and lying to intimidate and silence public servants like me, and it’s not going to work.” ... The targets of Trump’s “dangerous and deeply disturbing” effort, Vindman continued, are “people who believe in democracy like my constituents — FBI agents, prosecutors, military officials, federal workers, and intelligence agency leaders who disagree with him.” Trump’s “retribution campaign” is not helping lower prices or boost the economy, he added, concluding, “Those who wrote and encouraged this weird attempt at intimidation are lying.”

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“I have received requests for clarification of your personal financial disclosures over the past year,” Martin wrote in the letter, which Eugene Vindman’s office said was dated Feb. 4, sent by regular mail and received Feb. 19 after security screening. “Specifically, my questions focus on whether you are receiving payment for work done or for other reasons.” ... The letter is the latest among an estimated 20 inquiries that people close to Martin estimate he has sent since taking office Jan. 20 as the top federal prosecutor in the nation’s largest U.S. attorney office. Among those that have become public, Martin has demanded information from figures such as Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-New York), Rep. Robert Garcia (D-California), the legal disciplinary counsel’s office over the D.C. Bar and the dean of Georgetown University’s law school.

In his letters or past public comments, Martin has indicated that the recipients have something in common — playing a role in criticizing or employing critics of Trump, his appointees or allies, or investigating complaints against his lawyers. ... The letters are styled as voluntary “letters of inquiry” — not compulsory legal demands — and often bear signs of haste such as wrong addresses, typographic errors, or, in Vindman’s case, a failure to state a deadline for a reply, writing instead only, “Please respond by day, month, date, 2025.”

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A spokesman for Martin’s office declined to comment.

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