WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump says he’s pulling Ed Martin’s nomination for U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C. and tapping someone else for the position in the face of Republican opposition on Capitol Hill over his support for Jan. 6 rioters.
“We have somebody else that will be great,” Trump told reporters May 8 during a White House event unveiling a U.S.-United Kingdom trade deal. “Ed is unbelievable and hopefully we can bring him into – whether it’s DOJ or whatever, in some capacity.”
Martin’s confirmation was in question after Judiciary Committee Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said he would not support him serving as the top U.S. attorney in the district that spent the last several years after the 2021 U.S. Capitol riot prosecuting Jan. 6 cases.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, also did not list Martin’s nomination on the committee’s agenda for its meeting on May 8.
Trump appointed Martin as interim U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C. on Inauguration Day Jan. 20, and Martin has been reshaping the powerful D.C. prosecutorial office since then. The staunch Trump ally has fired many prosecutors who worked on Jan. 6-related cases and launched probes into prominent Democrats.
On Jan. 6, 2021, Martin indicated on social media that he was outside the Capitol supporting the efforts to block Congress and then-Vice President Mike Pence from counting the presidential electoral votes to certify Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.
In the years since, Martin has continued to champion Jan. 6 rioters, and represented several defendants in Jan. 6-related cases. Trump on his first day in office for his second term followed through with a campaign pledge by pardoning more than 1,500 people who were charged in the attack.
Reporters asked Trump in the Oval Office on May 8 whether he had a backup plan if Martin’s nomination failed, and the president replied, “Oh, yea, I do”. He then added that he was “very disappointed” in the situation, and called Martin a “terrific person.”
“I was disappointed, a lot of people were disappointed. But that’s the way it works sometime. That’s the way it works,” Trump said. “And he wasn’t rejected. But we felt…it would be hard,” he added, suggesting he’d pulled the nomination.
He added: “And have somebody else who we will be announcing over the next two days who’s going to be great.”
Contributing: Aysha Bagchi
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump pulls DC attorney pick Ed Martin amid Republican opposition
