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Acting US attorney once orchestrated Facebook posts criticizing judge presiding in his case, report says

By Debra Cassens Weiss

April 28, 2025, 11:12 am CDT

The acting U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., formerly helped ghostwrite posts criticizing a judge presiding in a civil case in which he was the defendant, according to lawsuit documents cited by ProPublica.

U.S. attorney nominee Edward R. Martin Jr. helped his associate, Priscilla Gray, write the posts that began in 2016 after the Illinois judge “dealt Martin a major setback in the case,” according to the report by ProPublica, noted by Bloomberg Law’s Wake Up Call. Martin is filling the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia position on an acting basis.

Gray’s posts on the judge’s Facebook page called the judge a “politician” with the “lowest rating for a judge in Illinois.”

Martin had urged Gray to call the judge’s actions “unfair and rigged over and over,” according to ProPublica. He also urged Gray to privately message the judge, the article reports.

The judge was presiding in a case seeking to oust Martin from association with a grassroots group that he once headed, the Eagle Forum. The plaintiff was Anne Schlafly Cori, an Eagle Forum board member who was the daughter of the group’s founder, Phyllis Schlafly.

The truth about Martin’s involvement in the criticism “emerged as Cori’s lawyers gathered evidence for her lawsuit,” according to ProPublica.

President Donald Trump has nominated Martin, who has no prosecution experience, to remain in the U.S. attorney position. Martin did not respond to ProPublica’s requests for comment. Gray also declined to comment to the publication.

Andy Schlafly, a former Eagle Forum board member who supported Martin, told ProPublica that Gray “speaks for herself” and had every right to express her outrage. He also said no court has ever sanctioned Martin for his “First Amendment advocacy.”

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A 10-count indictment has been unsealed in a murder and insurance fraud case out of New Orleans, in which lawyers and residents are accused of orchestrating “staged collisions” around the Crescent City for money — with paid “spotters,” “slammers” and “runners” in on the take — and one of the alleged schemers being killed off for talking to cops, according to federal prosecutors.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office unsealed the indictment this week and listed charges for New Orleans residents Ryan “Red” Harris, 36; Sean Alfortish, 57; Vanessa Motta, 43; Jason Giles, 45; Leon “Chunky” Parker, 51; Diaminike Stalbert, 34; Carl Morgan, 66; and Timara Lawrence, 34; as well as the local law firms Motta Law, LLC, and The King Firm, LLC.

Giles and Motta are both attorneys based in the Big Easy, while Alfortish — Motta’s fiance — is disbarred.

Charges were first filed in the homicide and insurance fraud case back in May against Harris and his girlfriend, Jovanna Gardner, 39, of Chalmette, Louisiana for first-degree murder of a government cooperator after the alleged widespread fraud conspiracy was uncovered. Several others who were involved have pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, including convicted “slammer” Damian Labeaud, who is scheduled to be sentenced in January, and his partner Roderick Hickam. Prosecutors initially declined to release the identities of the lawyers and firms that were allegedly involved.