U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, announced Tuesday that he will be placing a hold on President Trump’s nomination of Edward Martin to be U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.
Schiff wrote of Martin, who is serving as interim U.S. Attorney: “I’m placing a hold on President Trump’s nominee for U.S. Attorney in DC. For the past few weeks, Ed Martin has been a one-man wrecking ball. Threatening opponents, firing public servants, and using his office to chill free speech. His nomination must be blocked.”
Note: In March, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee filed a formal complaint against Martin “accusing him of dismissing criminal charges against his own clients and threatening prosecution against government employees to intimidate them.”
Martin represented several Jan. 6 defendants and has threatened to “pursue any and all legal action against anyone” who impedes the “government-related work of Elon Musk and his DOGE team.”
In a written statement, Schiff said: “In every way he can, Ed Martin has demolished the firewalls between the White House and his own office within the Department of Justice. Confirming him to serve permanently in the role he has already abused in his interim capacity would cross the prosecutorial Rubicon that every single Senator would come to regret and that would threaten the rights of Americans from all walks of life.”
BREAKING: I’m placing a hold on President Trump’s nominee for U.S. Attorney in DC.
For the past few weeks, Ed Martin has been a one-man wrecking ball. Threatening opponents, firing public servants, and using his office to chill free speech.
His nomination must be blocked.
— Adam Schiff (@SenAdamSchiff) April 1, 2025
“For the past nine weeks, Ed Martin has consistently undermined the independence and abused the power of the U.S. Attorney’s office in DC – openly threatening and intimidating political opponents, dismissing charges against his own clients, firing public servants for their roles in legitimate investigations, and using his office as a cudgel to chill dissent and free speech.
“No one embodies Donald Trump’s personal weaponization of the Justice Department more than Ed Martin. He is unfit to serve as a lawyer, let alone one with the resources – and cover from the Senate – to further twist the power of the law and law enforcement to go after Americans who stand up for the rule of law and for our democracy. With all of the power I am afforded as a United States Senator, I intend to place a hold on his nomination and block attempts to jam through his appointment at every stage.”
MAGA supporters are slamming Schiff, as usual, and insist that Martin will get confirmed “whether you like it or not.”
Note: Martin, who earned degrees in law and ethics from St. Louis University, has maintained his own law practice while engaging in public service, including serving as Chairman of the St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners, Chief of Staff to Missouri Governor Matt Blunt, Chairman of the Missouri Republican Party, and member of the Republican National Committee.