Woman spit on US Attorney during news interview in DC, feds say. She’s arrested
A woman is facing a federal assault charge two weeks after prosecutors said she spit on the now-former U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., during a TV news interview a few blocks down from the White House.
“Who in the (expletive) are you?,” Emily Gabiella Sommer first said to Edward R. Martin Jr. on May 8, while he was being interviewed as the then-interim U.S. Attorney for D.C., according to prosecutors.
“Are you Ed Martin? You are. Ed Martin,” Sommer is accused of saying before she lunged at him.
The 32-year-old D.C. resident spit on Martin’s shoulder, then walked off down the street, shouting “you are a disgusting man” and announcing herself by name, according to prosecutors.
“My name is Emily Gabriella Sommer, and you are served,” she’s accused of yelling.
Sommer was arrested May 22 on one count of assaulting, resisting, or impeding a government official, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said in a news release.
Attorney information for Sommer wasn’t immediately available.
According to court documents, Martin was being recorded and interviewed by a Newsmax reporter on May 8, when Sommer approached him. Another reporter with NBC was also there.
That same day, President Donald Trump, who nominated Martin as U.S. Attorney for D.C., announced he was rescinding his nomination of Martin, The Associated Press reported.
The announcement was made in the wake of “bipartisan concerns” about Martin, a conservative who was the defense attorney for several people accused of rioting at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to the outlet.
Trump also announced Martin will serve as associate deputy attorney general and a pardon attorney within the Justice Department, CBS News reported. In addition, Trump made him the director of the Justice Department’s new “Weaponization Working Group.”
Following Martin’s encounter with Sommer, prosecutors said they discovered an account on X, formerly Twitter, that is “likely” hers and had shared posts mentioning the alleged assault on Martin.
According to prosecutors, in a reply to an X post made by Martin the evening of May 8, a post under the username “@EmilyGabriellaS,” stated in part, that:
“ED, that was me that spit in your face today.”
The same user shared the same message in additional responses to other posts by Martin on X, according to prosecutors.
Sommer was located by authorities on May 22, prosecutors said.
Now, D.C.’s new interim U.S. Attorney is Jeanine Ferris Pirro, who announced the criminal complaint against Sommer.
Trump revealed he was appointing Pirro, a Fox News host, for the position the same day he announced he was no longer nominating Martin, ABC News reported.
This story was originally published May 22, 2025 at 5:33 PM with the headline "Woman spit on US Attorney during news interview in DC, feds say. She’s arrested."
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