Trump taps Martin for DOJ pardon attorney, ‘weaponization' role
In a Thursday evening post on his social media site, Trump said Martin would serve as both the head of a new Weaponization Working Group and as the U.S. pardon attorney from a perch in the Office of the Deputy Attorney General.
'Ed will make sure we finally investigate the Weaponization of our Government under the Biden Regime, and provide much needed Justice for its victims,' Trump wrote.
Trump indicated Thursday that he would pull Martin's nomination after Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said he would not vote to advance the attorney out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, effectively killing his nomination after a string of controversies.
Trump then said Thursday in the Oval Office that he hoped to find a role in the Justice Department for the controversial attorney.
The Weaponization Working Group was established by Attorney General Pam Bondi and lays out clear objectives — mandating review of special counsel Jack Smith's work and 'the pursuit of improper investigative tactics' related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
As pardon attorney, Martin would also be responsible for reviewing petitions of those hoping to have their sentences commuted or be pardoned by the president — a group that already includes former GOP Rep. George Santos (N.Y.).
The Trump administration fired the prior pardon attorney, Liz Oyer, after she said she declined to recommend actor Mel Gibson have his gun rights restored. She was later informed U.S. Marshals were set to be dispatched to her house to deliver a letter asking her not to testify when she agreed to appear at a panel organized by congressional Democrats.
Martin, who previously worked for Phyllis Schlafley's Eagle Forum, responded to the news by tweeting, 'Eagle Unleashed.'
Martin, who was already serving as interim U.S. Attorney for D.C., took a number of remarkable moves in his short tenure in the post.
A former 'Stop the Steal' speaker, Martin represented several Jan. 6 defendants in trials, while one of his first moves in his current post was to reassign or dismiss prosecutors on those cases.
He also simultaneously represented one client while moving to dismiss charges against him as U.S. attorney, doing the same for all cases in the wake of broad pardons issued by Trump on his first day in office.
He also wrote a public letter to Elon Musk threatening to use his prosecutorial platform to go after those who 'even acted simply unethically,' later launching investigations into two Democratic lawmakers, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
Martin has sent letters to Georgetown University threatening to investigate the school over its diversity, equity and inclusion policies, and more recently he sent letters to a D.C.-based medical marijuana dispensary saying it was 'operating in violation of federal law.'
Trump also announced Thursday that he would put Jeanine Pirro, a Fox News host and former judge, in the U.S. Attorney post in D.C. on an interim basis. Like Martin, she may only serve in the post for 120 days, and Trump did not make clear whether he plans to formally nominate her.
Beyond his description as being 'unleashed,' Martin also retweeted a post from conservative political activist Charlie Kirk.
'The left got its wish. Ed Martin won't be U.S. attorney for D.C. Instead, he'll get a senior DOJ job heading the investigation into Biden-era weaponization of the DOJ against conservatives,' Kirk wrote.
'Be careful what you wish for, libs. You just might get it!'
Updated at 10:56 a.m.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 minutes ago
- Yahoo
NEWS OF THE WEEK: Jimmy Kimmel granted Italian citizenship
During an interview with comedian Sarah Silverman on her podcast, the Jimmy Kimmel Live! host discussed how "much worse" President Donald Trump's second term has been for the country. He said he has obtained Italian citizenship as a result. Kimmel's Italian heritage from his mother's side gave him the option to double up his citizenship. "What's going on is as bad as you thought it was gonna be," Kimmel told his ex-girlfriend. Kimmel has criticised Trump consistently on his late-night TV show since before the president first won the White House in 2016.
The Hill
4 minutes ago
- The Hill
European leaders will join Zelensky at White House visit: EU's von der Leyen
European leaders will join Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for a high-stakes meeting at the White House on Monday after President Trump's historic summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a post on the social platform X on Sunday that she will join the meeting 'at the request of President Zelenskyy.' German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's office also announced he will be traveling to Washington Monday for 'political talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other European heads of state and government,' according to a translated statement from his office. The statement said the purpose of the trip is the 'exchange of information' with Trump after his meeting with Putin and said Merz plans to discuss peace efforts and 'underscore Germany's interest in a swift peace agreement in Ukraine.' 'The talks will address, among other things, security guarantees, territorial issues, and continued support for Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression. This includes maintaining the pressure of sanctions,' the translated statement said. French President Emmanuel Macron will also attend the meeting, according to local reports of his office's statement. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also plan to join the meeting, The New York Times reported. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte's office confirmed that he will attend the meeting. The meeting comes as European leaders have doubled down on their commitment to Ukraine over the weekend. Trump spoke with Zelensky and European leaders on Air Force One while returning home from his first face-to-face meeting with Putin since his first term in office. He signaled a shift in his position on the war — calling for a direct peace agreement without a ceasefire. 'It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up,' Trump posted on Truth Social early Saturday morning. 'President Zelenskyy will be coming to D.C., the Oval Office, on Monday afternoon. If all works out, we will then schedule a meeting with President Putin,' he added. Zelensky signaled his support for a trilateral meeting between the three world leaders in a post on X. 'President Trump informed about his meeting with the Russian leader and the main points of their discussion,' the Ukrainian leader wrote. 'It is important that America's strength has an impact on the development of the situation.' Monday's meeting will mark the first time Zelensky visits Washington since the infamous Oval Office spat earlier this year in which Trump and Vice President Vance blasted the Ukrainian leader for not expressing gratitude for U.S. support.
The Hill
4 minutes ago
- The Hill
The EPA's know-nothing assault on climate science
Soon after he began his second term, President Trump — who has referred to global warming as 'a make-believe problem' and asked oil executives to contribute $1 billion to his 2024 campaign — issued executive orders expanding coal mining and offshore drilling of oil, blocking enforcement of state and local laws restricting carbon emissions and slashing the budget of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In July, EPA administrator Lee Zeldin moved to rescind the agency's 2009 'endangerment finding' that pollutants from burning fossil fuels constitute a threat to public health. Officials indicated that the decision was based in part on a report of five climate contrarians commissioned by the Department of Energy. Committed to ending regulations on automobile emissions, reducing limits on power plant emissions and releases of carbon dioxide and methane, Zeldin denounced 'people, who in the name of climate change, are willing to bankrupt the country … and basically regulate out of existence a lot of segments of our economy.' The Interior Department is now conducting 'consultations' that cause lengthy delays on permits for wind and solar projects (which produced 16 percent of U.S. electricity in 2024). The Trump administration's assault on what Zeldin called 'climate change religion' is based on demonstrably false assumptions and assertions. Global warming is not 'a hoax.' Temperatures on the surface of the earth and ocean are increasing at alarming rates. The ice sheets are melting, sea levels are rising and catastrophic weather-related events are more frequent. The benefits of addressing climate change, moreover, outweigh costs to the economies of developed and developing countries — and to the welfare of hundreds of millions of people on the planet. Hundreds of studies conducted throughout the world confirm that human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels, are having an adverse impact on the climate. About 97 percent of climate scientists agree. According to one expert, no new evidence has emerged 'that would in any way challenge the scientific bases of the endangerment finding.' A National Climate Assessment report presents 2,000 pages of evidence that rising temperatures are injurious to health. Research indicates that each increase of a tenth of a degree Celsius moves about 100 million people into 'unprecedented heat exposure.' In the U.S., extreme heat already kills more people than any other 'natural' disaster. Bill McKibben reminds us in his new book 'Here Comes The Sun' that many factors are often omitted when measuring the economic costs of various energy sources. Consider, for example, insurance. Wildfires, hurricanes and floods have caused many insurance companies to stop offering policies for homes in vulnerable areas. The number of homeowners in the U.S. with no insurance, according to a Senate Budget Committee report, increased from 5 percent in 2019 to 12 percent in 2024. Premiums for Americans lucky enough to get a policy are going up 40 percent faster than inflation. A British actuarial society estimated a 50 percent loss of global GDP and dramatic declines in 'critical services' by 2070 if temperatures continue to rise. Far from bankrupting the country, solar, wind and battery power now present cost-effective alternatives to fossil fuels. Noting that oil and coal produce wasted heat and send pollutants into the air, McKibben praises renewables as 'the Costco of energy, inexpensive and available in bulk.' A solar panel produced in 2024 will generate electricity for decades, whereas oil and gas will have to be replenished every few months. In 2024, 92.5 percent of new electricity around the world and 96 percent in the U.S. came from carbon-free energy. California is now using 44 percent less natural gas than it used in 2023. 'In a red-state cocktail party fact,' McKibben reveals that the largest solar panel factory in the Western Hemisphere is located in Marjorie Taylor Greene's Georgia congressional district. Texas, 'the spiritual home of fossil fuel,' will add twice as much clean energy in 2025 than California and Arizona put together. McKibben also cites evidence that renewables are producing more jobs than the more dangerous and dirty jobs lost in coal, oil and gas industries. China, it's worth noting, has seized the moment, and is now 'the Saudi Arabia of sun.' By 2024, seven Chinese companies were producing more energy than the oil industry's once-fabled Seven Sisters. In the last two years, China spent $329 billion on clean technology supply chains, while the U.S. and Europe spent a total of $29 billion. China also dominates the global market for electric vehicles. America can become a worthy competitor. Polls in 2022 indicated that 70 percent of Americans favored renewables over fossil fuels. But it's also possible, McKibben acknowledges, that the U.S., with Trump behind the wheel, will slide backwards into an 'island of internal combustion' and 'global irrelevance.' McKibben — a sometimes optimist who has written 20 books about climate change — concludes that we have one last chance to stop the increase in global warming and 'restart civilization on saner ground, once we've extinguished the fires that now both power and threaten it.' 'It ain't what you don't know that gets you in trouble,' a saying attributed to Mark Twain goes, 'it's what you know for sure that just ain't so.' With that in mind, here's hoping that with a push from better informed American voters and from the rest of the world, the U.S. will do a 180.
