President Trump said Thursday that he would pull the nomination of Ed Martin, who has been DC’s interim US Attorney since the inauguration. Trump’s enthusiasm for Martin appeared to wane as opposition built among Senate Republicans. On Wednesday, Trump told reporters that Martin’s fate is “really up to the senators,” calling the GOP’s resistance “disappointing” but conceding that they “have to follow their heart.” It was a shift in tone since Monday, when the President posted a paragraph on Truth Social promising Republican senators that if they approve Martin, “HE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN.”
While announcing his withdrawal of Martin’s nomination, Trump said, “We have somebody else that will be announcing over the next two days who’s gonna be great.” The news coincided with white smoke at the Vatican, which indicates cardinals have chosen a new pope. Martin posted a doctored image of himself dressed as a pope on X with the legend “Plot twist.”
Martin’s odds of confirmation grew bleaker earlier this week, when Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, a Republican who serves on the Judiciary Committee, informed the White House that Martin does not have his support. “He seems like a good man,” Tillis told reporters Tuesday. “Most of my concern is related to January 6.”
Martin’s presence at the “Stop the Steal” rally, which preceded the Capitol break-in on January 6, 2021, and subsequent defense of numerous accused rioters is one of many points of controversy that surrounded his confirmation. His lengthy political track record in the Midwest is spotted with lawsuits, email scandals, and unsuccessful bids for office. Since taking up his interim post as DC’s US attorney, Martin came under fire for taking retributive action against prosecutors in his office who handled January 6 cases, sending a threatening letter concerning DEI to the dean of Georgetown University’s law school, and accusing independent information sources like Wikipedia and the medical journal Chest of partisan bias.
During his short tenure in DC, Martin was vocal about his desire to thwart local crime. His office appeared to be making an example of activist Adam Eidinger, who is facing jail time for a nonviolent protest he participated in at the National Archives on January 10. “Just because you’re in the presence of a demonstration doesn’t mean you’re criminally liable for what others are doing,” Eidinger told Politico Magazine. “I find it ironic that the guy who made the same argument on behalf of so many people is now pursuing the case against me.”
Last week, Martin held a meeting at his office to address “the rate of violent crimes against those who work on Capitol Hill,” which Washingtonian was not granted access to cover. Ankit Jain, a US shadow senator for DC who did attend the meeting, issued a statement Tuesday in support of Tillis’ opposition to Martin’s nomination: “I have been one of the only D.C. elected officials advocating aggressively against Martin because I saw early on how much damage he could do to my constituents.”
Martin’s nomination did not appear to be on the Senate Judiciary’s agenda this week. The Wall Street Journal‘s editorial board denounced Martin’s nomination on Wednesday.
