Dem
47
GOP
53
Donald Trump has nominated Ed Martin to be the U.S. attorney for D.C., one of two top prosecutorial positions in the U.S. (along with the U.S. attorney for the SDNY). What could possibly go wrong? Well, before his confirmation hearing, Martin was given a questionnaire to fill out, like all nominees. Among other things, it asked for a list of all his media appearances in the past 10 years. It now seems that he "forgot" to mention the 150 times he appeared on Russian state television hawking pro-Russia, anti-America talking points. He also forgot another 200 events he attended. He is a busy man. You can't expect him to remember every interview he gives, after all.
After getting a J.D. from St. Louis University, he worked in private practice, including defending two Illinois pharmacists who refused to dispense the "morning after" pill to patients with a valid prescription. In 2006, he became chief of staff to Missouri's then-governor Matt Blunt (R). Shortly thereafter, Blunt fired his deputy general counsel, Scott Eckersley, for enforcing an e-mail-retention law that Blunt didn't like. During the investigation, it came out that Martin had misused his state position to help anti-abortion groups. He also destroyed some e-mails, in violation of state law. In response, he was elected chairman of the Missouri Republican Party, which led the St. Louis Post-Dispatch to editorialize that he was an unfortunate choice. He was later a conservative activist and part of the "Stop the Steal" movement who defended people who rioted at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, including one Proud Boy, claiming the defendants were merely "rowdy."
Some senators are worried that a conservative activist who broke the law and who has no prosecutorial experience at the city, state, or federal level is not fit to be one of the top two prosecutors in the country. Now it turns out he had also peddled disinformation on Russian TV repeatedly. In his favor (as far as Trump is concerned) is that he has promised to prosecute lawmakers, protesters, journalists and others who he perceives as opposing Trump's political agenda.
National security officials have said that the U.S. attorney for D.C. should be alert to the threats from Russia, not someone who has actively tried to advance its propaganda aims. In addition, a letter signed by 10 members of the conservative Society for the Rule of Law has urged the Office of Disciplinary Counsel for D.C. to investigate Martin. These include former federal prosecutors, a former federal judge, and a former conservative Republican representative.
Martin's confirmation hearing should be, um, interesting. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has already received over 500 questions from committee members, an extraordinary number. Martin is the interim U.S. attorney in D.C., but having a hearing for a permanent confirmation may take a while as Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) has placed an indefinite hold on the nomination. Schiff said: "For the past nine weeks, Ed Martin has consistently undermined the independence and abused the power of the U.S. Attorney's office in D.C., openly threatening and intimidating political opponents, dismissing charges against his own clients, firing public servants for their roles in legitimate investigations and using his office as a cudgel to chill dissent and free speech." Overcoming a hold could take weeks and use up precious floor time that could otherwise be used to push Donald Trump's giant "everything bill" through. (V)