By Seung Min Kim and Michael Kunzelman, Associated Press
Washington (AP) – President Donald Trump said Thursday that he would take his appointment from Ed Martin Jr. to be the main federal prosecutor in the national capital, losing to bipartite concerns concerning the modest legal experience and the division policy of the conservative activist.
Trump abandoned his choice to direct the largest office of the country’s American lawyer two days after a key republican senator said that he could not support Martin for the post because of his defense of the rioters who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
“We have someone else who will be great,” Trump told journalists in the oval office when he asked him questions about Martin’s confirmation status. He said it was disappointing, but “that’s how it works one day.”
A few minutes after Trump’s announcement, Martin joked a trackled image of him on social networks dressed in papal clothes with words, “twist of the plot” – alluding to the latest news that a new pope was elected to direct the Catholic church.
A Martin spokesperson did not immediately respond to messages asking for comments.
Martin has been an acting American lawyer for the Columbia district since the first week of Trump. But his hopes of keeping the work faded in the midst of questions about his qualifications and history, including his support for the rioters on January 6.
Martin sparked a choir of criticism during his brief but tumultuous mandate in office. He pulled and downgraded subordinates who worked on politically sensitive cases. He posted on social networks on the potential targets of surveys. And he forced the head of the Criminal Division of the Office to resign after having ordered him to examine the award of a government contract during the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden.
Martin’s temporary appointment must expire on May 20.
North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis said on Tuesday that he would not support Martin’s appointment. Tillis, a member of the Senate Judicial Committee, said his opposition came from the defense of Martin’s rioters who had raped the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Other Republicans also seemed to oppose the appointment of Martin.
In response to a committee questionnaire, Martin did not reveal that he did not reveal that he had made more than 150 appearances on the RT and Spoutnik networks funded by the Russian government before taking office. He then included them in a follow -up letter.
Dozens of former office prosecutors have publicly opposed the appointment of Martin. In a letter to the committee, more than 100 veterans from the office described him as “an affront in the singular pursuit of justice for which this office is more than two centuries”.
Martin also had eminent supporters, notably Elon Musk, Charlie Kirk and Donald Trump Jr. His supporters praised his record for the fight against conservative causes and his efforts to reduce violent crimes in Washington.
Martin was a leading figure in Trump’s “Stop The Vol” movement. He spoke during a rally in Washington on the eve of the Capitol riot. He represented three accused on January 6 and sat on the board of directors of the Patriot Freedom non -profit project, which reports the collection of more than $ 2.5 million to support the defendants of riot.
In terms of, Martin supervised the dismissals of hundreds of cases of January 6 after Trump has forgiven the defendants, communated by the sentences or sworn to throw them away. Martin also ordered an internal examination of the use by prosecutors of a crime accusation against hundreds of rioters from the Capitol, ordering employees to hand over files, emails and other documents.
Martin’s opponents also perfected his praise for the public for an accused of riot of the Capitol, Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, who openly married white supremacists and anti-Semitic ideology and photographed a Mustache of Hitler. He referred to Hale-Cusanelli as a friend who is “an extraordinary guy”.
Martin told members of the committee that he condemns Hale-Cusanelli hateful comments as “heinous and deplorable”. He said he had learned that after having awarded the prize at an event at the Trump’s Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
Martin practiced the right to Missouri but never worked as a prosecutor or tried a case before Trump appointed it in January. Martin chaired the Missouri Republican Party before becoming president of the Eagle forum of the conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly in April 2013. He co-wrote a book on Trump with Schlafly, who died in 2016.
The writer Associated Press, Zeke Miller, contributed the reports.
Originally published:
California Daily Newspapers
