Patty Hartman is Speaking up Against Injustice
If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.
Patty Hartman began her public service career as a member of the fourth estate some 30-odd years ago as a news radio reporter in Wilmington, Delaware. In July 2007, after nearly twenty years in radio and TV journalism, Patty was drawn to federal service by her love of the law. She spent the next 18 years serving in various public affairs roles with the Department of Justice before being fired by Attorney General Pam Bondi on July 7, 2025.
—Desmond Tutu
Between 2019 and 2021, Patty worked as a public affairs specialist at the FBI Newark Field Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Since late 2022, Patty oversaw media engagement with the US Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, which included the Superior Court for the District of Columbia, and press releases related to the 1,500 domestic terrorists who attacked the US Capitol on January 6th, 2021.
Within days of the beginning of the second Trump Administration, Patty's duties changed drastically, and she spent most of the next four months feeling alienated by her leadership. By May, Patty had observed a morale shift following the obliteration of the separation between the White House and DOJ, but a change in leadership at the USAO gave her hope that her situation would improve.
Hours after a July meeting with her new Director of External Affairs who had recently joined the office from Fox News, Patty was abruptly terminated and left scrambling to collect her personal effects before her last long train ride home.
Now, Patty is calling on former federal employees to run for public office and restore faith in the legislative branch's constitutionally-mandated checks and balances of the executive. Patty is still seeking opportunities to continue her career of service, volunteering with the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, and getting certified along with her beloved pup to do therapy visits for others in need.
Patty remains a beloved part of the extended FBI and DOJ family, and we're outraged and devastated by the administration's decision to politicize her role as a dedicated public servant. The January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol remains the single largest since the British siege of Washington during the War of 1812. Patty's role sharing information with the public about DOJ's effort to defend democracy should be admired not punished.
Connect with Patty on LinkedIn.
Follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Bluesky, LinkedIn, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.
If you enjoy Forking Off with us, consider supporting us on Ko-fi where we've set a goal to upgrade our hosting services.
Scott MacFarlane Justice Correspondent
Watch Patty's interview with CBS News about her unlawful firing.
Alfred Lubrano
Read more about Patty from her hometown paper.
Jory Heckman
Read about former feds running for public office.
Read the DC USAO press release about Ed Martin's interim appointment.
Ed Martin's May 14th appointment as Pardon Attorney and Director of the Department of Justice Weaponization Working Group.
Hunter Walker
DC USAO "Media Outreach Expert" Mike Caputo "informally counselled" interim US Attorney Ed Martin before being formally hired by the DOJ. The Internet Archive contained a copy of the DC USAO site listing Caputo as a "Media Outreach Expert" as early as March 10, 2025.
Dear @elon, Please see this important letter. We will not tolerate threats against DOGE workers or law-breaking by the disgruntled. All the best. Ed Martin pic.twitter.com/jIgMPVbPT5
— Eagle Ed Martin (@EagleEdMartin) February 3, 2025
Read a February 3rd letter addressed to Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency authored by Martin on official letterhead and posted on Twitter by Martin.
Follow up.
— Eagle Ed Martin (@EagleEdMartin) February 7, 2025
Sent only via X: to @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/FVO7pDFf3Q
Read Martin's second letter to Musk pledging the DC USAO's fealty and vowing to open investigation's of people highlighted by Musk who have acted "simply unethically."
ABC News
Read about AG Bondi's efforts to frame the Justice Department as "weaponized" against the President.
Ryan J. Reilly
Read about the appointment of interim DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro following Ed Martin's reassignment as weaponization czar, where he vowed to name alleged bad actors that he wasn't able to prosecute.
Read NPR's coverage of the "Fox-to-Trump funnel" and Jeanine Pirro's surprise appointment as interim DC US Attorney, as well as Fox News executive commentary describing Pirro is a "reckless maniac" with a "tendency to find random conspiracy theories on weird internet sites."
ABC News
Read about DC USAO Criminal Division Chief, Denise Cheung's resignation.
Alanna Durkin Richer, Associated Press
Read about AG Bondi's baseless invocation of "Article II of the United States Constitution" to fire three DOJ attorneys connected with prosecuting domestic terrorists who attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2001.
Drew Friedman
Read about OMB's seeming intent to violate federal law and withhold pay from federal workers following the October 2025 government shutdown.
Learn about the Trump administration's longstanding, potentially illegal coordination with conservative media outlets through the hiring of former media hosts in government communications roles.
Find resources for active and retired federal employees through NARFE.
Ryan J. Reilly
Read about FBI Director Kash Patel's firing of FBI agents for their roles investigating public corruption in adherence with FBI policies.
Read the 2024 FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (DIOG)—available through the FBI Vault—and learn what is actually required for the FBI to obtain and review a predicated subject's private communications metadata.