President Trump plans to put Ed Martin, his pick for U.S. attorney in D.C. who was rebuffed by the Senate, in a far-reaching role at the Justice Department.
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 in the post.
Trump indicated he would pull Martin’s nomination Thursday 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.
The announcement comes after Trump said in the Oval Office Thursday 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 Jan. 6.
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.
