Good Riddance to Ed Martin, Trump’s Failed Pick for U.S. Attorney for D.C.
President Donald Trump told reporters today that he is dropping the nomination of Ed Martin to be U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia because of slipping Republican support for Martin in the Senate.
“He’s a terrific person, and he wasn’t getting the support from people that I thought,” Trump said at the White House.
The news should be welcomed by free speech advocates or really anyone who dislikes bullies. Martin was a menace to the First Amendment and a loyalist who put his adoration of the president above his oath to the Constitution.
Doubts over Martin’s nomination began to accumulate as news investigations uncovered his frequent appearances on far-right podcasts and Russian-backed media, which he had failed to disclose to the Senate.
Trump appointed Martin as the acting U.S. Attorney for the D.C. in January. It’s one of the more powerful federal prosecutor offices in the country, both because of its political proximity and because it handles D.C.’s felony caseload.
Martin, a Missouri Republican, was an organizer and fundraiser for the 2020 “Stop the Steal” movement and later represented defendants charged with participating in the January 6 Capitol riot. It was quickly apparent that Martin was out of his depth as a U.S. attorney and wrapped in conflicts of interest. In one instance, he asked a court to dismiss the cases of a January 6 defendant whom he had previously represented.
But once in office, Martin made himself useful as an attack dog for the president’s agenda. He began using his new official letterhead to pen threatening and legally dubious letters to various enemies of the Trump administration.
One of his first official acts was to threaten several Democratic lawmakers with criminal investigations for statements opposing Trump that were, while heated, protected speech under the First Amendment.
Martin also spent his time writing sycophantic lette
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