(Headline USA) President Donald Trump said Thursday that he would pull his nomination of Ed Martin Jr. to be the top federal prosecutor for the nation’s capital after Sen. Thom Tillis, R-NC, said he wouldn’t support him. Martin was a defense attorney for Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill protestors during the Biden administration.
Trump abandoned his pick to lead the nation’s largest U.S. Attorney’s office two days after Thillis said he could not support Martin for the job due to his defense of J6ers.
Thillis’s blocking of Martin caused widespread outrage among J6ers and MAGA diehards.
Thom Tillis blocked the most effective U.S. Attorney America would have ever seen. https://t.co/ON8AwJ2CFl
— Cernovich (@Cernovich) May 8, 2025
Trump, for his part, tried to put a positive spin on the unsuccessful nomination.
“We have somebody else that will be great,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked about the status of Martin’s confirmation. He said it was disappointing, but “that’s the way it works sometime.”
Within minutes of Trump’s announcement, Martin jokingly posted a doctored image of himself on social media dressed in papal garments with the words, “Plot twist” — alluding to the breaking news that a new pope has been elected to lead the Catholic Church.
A spokesperson for Martin didn’t immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
Plot twist … pic.twitter.com/Nwi24CmnQL
— Ed Martin (@EagleEdMartin) May 8, 2025
Martin has served as acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia since Trump’s first week in office.
As interim U.S. attorney, Martin oversaw the dismissals of hundreds of Jan. 6 cases after Trump pardoned defendants, commuted sentences or vowed to throw them out. He also ordered an internal review of prosecutors’ use of a felony charge against hundreds of Capitol rioters and directed employees to hand over files, emails and other documents.
Towards the end of the first Trump administration, Martin led a chant at a “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 5, 2021, telling the crowd of Trump supporters: “What they’re stealing is not just an election. It’s our future, and it’s our republic.” The next day, he attended Trump’s rally near the White House and remarked on social media: “Rowdy crowd but nothing out of hand. Ignore the #FakeNews.”
Martin later served on the board of the Patriot Freedom Project, which has raised money to support Jan. 6 defendants and their families, and he was listed in court filings as a lawyer for at least three Jan. 6 defendants, including a Proud Boys member who pleaded guilty to felony charges.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
