Topline

President Donald Trump announced Monday he’s nominating Ed Martin to be the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, after Martin has already been serving in an acting capacity, putting the lawyer in charge of overseeing the office that prosecuted thousands of Jan. 6 rioters—after Martin defended several of them in court and helped lead their movement.

Ed Martin, then-president of the Phyllis Schlafly Eagles, speaks during a news conference outside ... [+] the Republican National Committee headquarters on November 5, 2020 in Washington, DC.

Key Facts

Trump nominated Martin to be the permanent U.S. Attorney in D.C.—a role that requires Senate confirmation—saying Martin has been “fighting tirelessly to restore Law and Order” in his acting role at the U.S. attorney’s office and “will get the job done.”

Martin is a lawyer whose previous roles include chairing the Missouri Republican Party, working at the Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis, working as chief of staff to former Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt and working at longtime conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly’s Eagle Forum, where he authored the book “The Conservative Case for Trump” with Schlafly in 2016 before her death.

He is also a conservative activist who became one of the leaders of the “Stop the Steal” movement and helped to fundraise for and organize the rally that preceded the Jan. 6 riot, The Washington Post notes , delivering a speech on the eve of the rally in which he urged “die-hard true Americans” to work until their “last breath” to “stop the steal,” as quoted by NBC News .

As the Biden-era DOJ prosecuted Jan. 6 rioters, Martin also helped raise money for Jan. 6 defendants and defended at least three of them in court.

Martin—who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2010—risked being found in contempt of Congress in 2022, when he failed to comply with a House subpoena for testimony regarding his participation in the events leading up to the Jan. 6 riot, though lawmakers didn’t follow up with pursuing criminal charges.

Prior to being tapped to serve as acting U.S. Attorney, Martin was appointed to help craft the Republican National Committee’s 2024 platform, NBC reports .

Was Ed Martin At The Capitol On Jan. 6, 2021?

Martin tweeted he was “at the Capitol right now” at 2:53 p.m. EST on Jan. 6, 2021, which NBC News notes is after rioters had entered the building. He also attended the rally that preceded the attack. While video surveillance footage shows Martin on the grounds of the Capitol building, NBC notes there is no evidence he entered the building or any other restricted areas during the riot or did anything that would have violated the law. He was never charged in connection with the riot.

What Has Ed Martin Already Done As U.s. Attorney?

Martin has drawn controversy in his short tenure as the acting U.S. Attorney, most notably for launching investigations into his office’s prosecutions of the Jan. 6 rioters. Martin ordered prosecutors in his office to review its handling of the Jan. 6 cases, particularly in how it charged defendants with obstructing an official proceeding of Congress—a charge the Supreme Court last year ruled against being applied to the rioters. The Justice Department separately ordered the firing of some prosecutors involved with the Jan. 6 cases, which happened apart from Martin’s investigation. Martin also wrote a public letter to billionaire Elon Musk saying his office would pursue legal action against “anyone who threatens” Musk’s work with his Department of Government Efficiency or “threatens your people.” In a follow up letter , Martin wrote his office would go after anyone who even acted “unethically” in opposing DOGE and “will chase them to the end of the Earth to hold them accountable.” He has also spearheaded prosecutors’ work in dismantling the pending cases against Jan. 6 rioters brought by the Biden administration, and urged a judge to lift restrictions on Jan. 6 organizers and defendants traveling to the Capitol in light of Trump pardoning the defendants.

What Will Ed Martin Do As U.s. Attorney?

Should the Senate confirm Martin, the Trump ally has suggested he could take further steps to go after the president’s perceived enemies—including former Special Counsel Jack Smith. Martin tweeted that a law firm that gave legal aid to Smith should “save their receipts,” because his office “will be in touch soon.” The prosecutor has suggested his office will be aligned with Trump’s priorities, sharing a post on X that questioned whether the Justice Department should actually be independent from the president. In an interview with local outlet 7 News DC, Martin also said he wanted to take strong steps toward getting rid of violent crime in the nation’s capital, including encouraging more judges to be appointed in the district, bringing more complex charges against people charged with gun crimes that would be harder to get out of, and going more strongly after minors who are involved with violent crimes.

Why Was Ed Martin Controversial In Previous Jobs?

Martin has repeatedly garnered controversy in previous roles he’s held, most notably resigning as Blunt’s chief of staff following a public scandal—known as “memogate”—in which he and his aides deleted emails that were subject to public records requests. Martin was involved with a lawsuit brought by a former staffer who claimed he was wrongly terminated for advising that the emails were subject to the public records laws, which the state later settled for $1.8 million in taxpayer funds. When working at the Archdiocese, Martin also faced accusations he purged the organization’s workforce of liberal members, St. Louis-based publication the River Front Times reports .

Surprising Fact

Martin is the first U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., in at least 50 years who wasn’t previously a judge or federal prosecutor, according to the Post.

Key Background

Martin’s nomination comes as Trump has been trying to staff his second administration with loyalists who will follow his policy agenda—particularly at the Department of Justice. Trump has also tapped ally Kash Patel to lead the FBI after Patel publicly vowed to go after Trump’s enemies, echoing the president’s rhetoric as Trump has suggested he wants to get “retribution” for the criminal charges that were brought against him when Joe Biden was president. While Biden’s Justice Department brought thousands of charges against Jan. 6 rioters for their participation in the storming of the Capitol, Trump undid nearly all of that work immediately after his inauguration, issuing blanket pardons to the Jan. 6 defendants on his first day in office, including those that were charged with assaulting law enforcement.

Further Reading