President Donald Trump has appointed acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Ed Martin to a special role at the Justice Department after it became clear this week that his nomination to the position would not clear the Republican-held Senate.
In a post on his social media platform Thursday evening, President Trump announced that Martin will serve in dual roles: as the head of a newly formed Weaponization Working Group and as the U.S. Pardon Attorney, operating within the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, The Hill reported.
“Ed Martin has done an AMAZING job as interim U.S. Attorney, and will be moving to the Department of Justice as the new Director of the Weaponization Working Group, Associate Deputy Attorney General, and Pardon Attorney. In these highly important roles, Ed will make sure we finally investigate the Weaponization of our Government under the Biden Regime, and provide much needed Justice for its victims. Congratulations Ed!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform when making the announcement.
The president summarily named now-former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro as Martin’s replacement.
“I am pleased to announce that Judge Jeanine Pirro will be appointed interim United States Attorney for the District of Columbia,” the president said on Truth Social. “Jeanine is incredibly well qualified for this position, and is considered one of the Top District Attorneys in the History of the State of New York. She is in a class by herself. Congratulations Jeanine!”
Her employer, Fox News, responded quickly to the announcement.
“Jeanine Pirro has been a wonderful addition to The Five over the last three years and a longtime beloved host across FOX News Media who contributed greatly to our success throughout her 14-year tenure. We wish her all the best in her new role in Washington,” a spokesperson for the news organization said.
Martin’s nomination was withdrawn after Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina announce he would not support it. Other nominally Republican senators indicated they, too, would not vote to confirm Martin over his previous statements regarding people who were prosecuted by the Biden regime for their role in the riot at the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 6, 2021. Martin objected to the outsized sentences many of them received for what was a minor infraction.
The senator said he met with the nominee to alleviate some concerns, but several still lingered on Tuesday when Tillis spoke to CNN reporter Manu Raju.
“At this point, I’ve indicated to the White House I wouldn’t support his nomination,” the senator said.
“Most of my concerns relate to Jan. 6,” he said. “I think that anybody that breached the perimeter should have been imprisoned for some period of time, whether it’s 30 days or three years is debatable but I have no tolerance for anybody who entered the building on Jan. 6 and that’s probably where most of the friction was.”
The senator indicated that Martin believed that some of the people who were prosecuted for crimes related to the riot were overcharged.
“We have to be very, very clear that what happened on Jan. 6 was wrong,” the senator said.
“It was not prompted or created by other people to put those people in trouble. They made a stupid decision and they disgraced the United States by absolutely destroying the Capitol,” he said.
“Mr. Martin did a good job of explaining the one area that I think he’s probably right, that there were some people that were over-prosecuted, but there were some, 200 or 300 of them that should have never gotten a pardon,” he said.