President Donald Trump announced Thursday that Ed Martin, whose bid to become U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C. was recently thwarted in the Senate, will now take on a prominent dual role within the Justice Department.
Martin will lead a newly established Weaponization Working Group and also serve as the U.S. pardon attorney under the Office of the Deputy Attorney General.
“Ed will make sure we finally investigate the Weaponization of our Government under the Biden Regime, and provide much needed Justice for its victims,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Martin’s nomination to the D.C. post came to a halt after Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) signaled he would not support moving the nomination forward, effectively ending the process in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Despite this setback, Trump opted to appoint Martin to an expansive Justice Department role without requiring Senate confirmation.
At the same time, Trump announced he will appoint Fox News personality and former judge Jeanine Pirro to serve as the interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.
Martin’s responsibilities as pardon attorney would involve overseeing applications for commutations and presidential pardons.
Among the petitioners is former Republican Rep. George Santos of New York, who recently pleaded guilty to charges including wire fraud and identity theft.
Santos made his intentions known during an appearance on British broadcaster Piers Morgan’s show “Uncensored.”
“I’ll take a commutation, clemency, whatever the president is willing to give me,” Santos said during the Thursday broadcast.
He argued that his 87-month sentence is disproportionately harsh for a first-time, nonviolent offender.
“Seven years and three months in prison for a first-time offender over campaign matters just screams ‘over the top,’ and I would appreciate if the president would consider,” he continued, confirming he is in the process of submitting official paperwork to request presidential intervention ahead of his scheduled report date in July.
Santos, elected in 2022 to represent New York’s 3rd Congressional District, was the first openly gay Republican to win a House seat as a non-incumbent.
His brief tenure unraveled rapidly after his campaign biography was found to include numerous false claims. The House voted to expel him in late 2023 by a margin of 311–114 amid mounting ethics investigations.
“I do believe this is an unfair judgment handed down to me,” Santos stated. “I think there was a lot of politicization over the process.”
Martin, a longtime conservative attorney affiliated with Phyllis Schlafley’s Eagle Forum, marked the announcement about his new role by posting “Eagle Unleashed” on X.
He also reposted a message from conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who suggested the left had effectively handed Martin more power by opposing his D.C. nomination.
“The left got its wish. Ed Martin won’t be U.S. attorney for D.C. Instead, he’ll get a senior DOJ job heading the investigation into Biden-era weaponization of the DOJ against conservatives,” Kirk wrote. “Be careful what you wish for, libs. You just might get it!”
Martin replaces former pardon attorney Liz Oyer, who was dismissed after refusing to recommend gun rights restoration for actor Mel Gibson.
Reports suggest that Oyer was warned not to testify at a congressional panel organized by Democrats, and that U.S. Marshals had been prepared to deliver a letter discouraging her appearance.
