On February 17, President Donald Trump nominated a lawyer named Ed Martin to serve as the acting U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., and Martin jumped into the job with great vigor — including decisions to dismiss January 6 charges against a defendant he is representing and firing the prosecutors on that case. Unlike almost every person before him who previously served in the role, he has no experience as a prosecutor. But he has plenty of on-the-job training as a Republican operative and pro-Trump partisan. Below are some of Martin’s most brazen efforts yet.
Dismissed the Capitol riot prosecutors
Martin spent most of his career in Missouri politics, losing races for governor and attorney general before becoming the state’s GOP chairman. Later, he helped organize the Stop the Steal rally on January 6, 2021 that fed into the riot at the Capitol.
Last last month, the week after Trump issued a blanket pardon to those charged over the Capitol riot, Martin fired 30 federal prosecutors who had worked on cases involving the riot. In an email to his staff, Martin described the prosecutions as a “great failure of our office” and has advocated for reparations for those who served time. He then went on the offensive, sending a letter to Senator Chuck Schumer suggesting he may investigate his March 2020 statement that Supreme Court justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh would “pay the price” for voting against abortion access. (Schumer later walked it back.) “We take threats against public officials very seriously,” Martin wrote.
Also dismissed the case of a Capitol riot convict he was still defending
When Trump issued pardons for January 6 convicts on his first day, he also ordered the Justice Department to dismiss any outstanding indictments related to the riot. Martin, on his second day as U.S. Attorney, filed to dismiss these cases — including one of a defendant named Joseph Padilla who was convicted of assaulting an officer with a deadly weapon. Martin moved to dismiss the case, even as he was on file as Padilla’s defense attorney.
The day after Reuters reported on the conflict — lawyers are not allowed to serve in both the prosecution and the defense team — Martin filed to withdraw as Padilla’s attorney. But he could not step down. The judge on the case determined determined that Martin was “not in good standing” with the court and was not permitted to file motions because his attorney membership was expired.
Called himself ‘President Trumps’ lawyer’
Federal prosecutors are sworn to protect the Constitution, not be loyal to a president. But Martin has so far adapted his role to fit the Trump’s understanding of the Justice Department as an extension of his personal legal team.
On Monday, following the Associated Press lawsuit against the White House barring them access for refusing to use Trump’s “Gulf of America” name, Martin tweeted from the official U.S. Attorney’s account that his office was in fact were “President Trumps’ lawyers.”
He’s all in for DOGE
At the federal level, he has bought into Elon Musk’s campaign to strip the government for parts. In early February, he wrote a public letter to Musk offering his office’s services to the Department of Governmental Efficiency, writing that he would “pursue any and all legal action against anyone who impedes your work or threatens your people.”
