President Donald Trump said on May 8 that he was pulling Ed Martin’s nomination to lead the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Columbia after a key Senate Republican announced he wouldn’t support the nominee.
Martin, a conservative attorney and longtime activist, has been serving as Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.
“He’s a terrific person, and he wasn’t getting the support from people that I thought—he’s done a very good job,” Trump said in the Oval Office.
The president said he was disappointed that the nominee did not receive enough Senate support.
“We have somebody else that we will be announcing over the next two days,” he said.
Later the same day, Trump announced that Judge Jeanine Pirro would take up the post pending Senate confirmation.
Instead of the U.S. attorney position, Trump announced that he would be appointing Martin to several roles at the Department of Justice overseeing investigations into alleged weaponization of law enforcement against conservatives under President Joe Biden’s administration.
“Ed Martin has done an AMAZING job as interim U.S. Attorney, and will be moving to the Department of Justice as the new Director of the Weaponization Working Group, Associate Deputy Attorney General, and Pardon Attorney,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
“In these highly important roles, Ed will make sure we finally investigate the Weaponization of our Government under the Biden Regime, and provide much needed Justice for its victims. Congratulations Ed!”
Martin, a conservative attorney and longtime activist, was appointed acting U.S. attorney by Trump on Jan. 20. His interim term expires on May 20, and without Senate confirmation, the choice of a permanent replacement will fall to a panel of federal judges on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, led by Chief Judge James Boasberg.
Trump’s announcement came after Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), one of the Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he didn’t support Martin’s nomination, citing concerns related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Martin, known for representing defendants charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol, defended his past advocacy in a meeting with Tillis on Monday evening. While the senator said Martin “did a good job” of explaining that some individuals were “over prosecuted,” he said “there were some—two or three hundred of them—that should have never gotten a pardon.”
In January, Trump issued sweeping pardons for Jan. 6 defendants, including those who were charged with violent offenses. Tillis told reporters on May 6 that he thought individuals who breached the Capitol on Jan. 6 should serve prison time.
