Trump signals he may pull nomination of US attorney in DC given GOP opposition

President Trump indicated he may pull the nomination of Ed Martin, his controversial pick for U.S. attorney in D.C., amid faltering Senate GOP support.

During an Oval Office press conference, Trump said he was “disappointed” that Martin did not garner enough GOP backing to advance out of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“To me it was disappointing. I'll be honest, I have to be straight. I was disappointed, a lot of people were disappointed, but that's the way it works sometimes. So it works and he wasn't rejected, but we felt it would be very – it would be hard. And we have somebody else that we'll be announcing over the next two days, who's going to be great,” Trump said.

Martin’s office did not immediately respond to request for comment.

The shift in plans comes after Sen. Thom Tillis (R-S.C.), a member of the panel, said Tuesday he would not be backing Martin, effectively sinking his nomination given the tight margins in the Senate.

Martin, who has never served as a prosecutor, has been serving in the role on an interim basis, and has already taken a number of remarkable moves in his short tenure. He otherwise is set to continue serving as interim U.S. attorney until May 20.

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.”

It may not be the end of the road for Martin, however, as Trump lavished praise on the attorney.

“I just want to say it is unbelievable, and hopefully we can bring him into, whether it's DOJ or whatever, in some capacity,” Trump added.

Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.), the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, took to the Senate floor Thursday to bash Martin, noting the attorney's prior praise for a Nazi sympathizer. 

“Nearly every day, new disqualifying information surfaces,” he said, also pointing to reporting from ProPublica indicating Martin ghostwrote posts attacking a judge.

He noted a speech Martin gave in support of Tim Hale-Cusanelli, a Jan. 6 defendant who has made a number of antisemitic remarks.

“Mr. Martin said, ‘Tim Hale is an extraordinary guy. I got to know him really well. I'd say we're friends.’ Friends with a Nazi sympathizer. This is who the president believes should be the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. Ed Martin now claims that despite these five interviews that we know of, he was not aware of Mr. Hale-Cusanelli’s anti semitic commentary or pension for donning a Hitler mustache until after he had presented him personally with an award last July,” Durbin said.

Martin later apologized in an interview with The Forward. 

“I denounce everything about what that guy said, everything about the way he talked and all, as I’ve now seen it,” Martin told the outlet focused on Jewish issues. “At the time, I didn’t know it.”