When President Donald Trump announced that he would nominate interim U.S. Attorney Ed Martin to serve in his current position on a permanent basis, it stood to reason that the Republican lawyer would start exercising some restraint. After all, it was at that point when Martin realized that he’d soon face Senate confirmation hearings — a process that might be more difficult if members perceived him as a radical partisan activist.
The acting head of the U.S. attorney’s office in the District of Colubmbia, however, appears uninterested in moderation ahead of his visit to Capitol Hill. In fact, Martin seems to be throwing caution to the wind while using his office to implement a maximalist agenda. Bloomberg Law reported:
Washington’s top federal prosecutor Ed Martin has demoted multiple senior supervisors involved in Jan. 6 insurrection cases to work in significantly reduced capacities. The supervisors oversaw the office’s work on federal crimes, and public corruption and civil rights, among other offices, according to multiple people familiar with the moves. Now they been told to immediately report to misdemeanors or an office called the early case assessment section, said the individuals, who all spoke on condition of anonymity to share private conversations.
Bloomberg Law’s report, which has been verified by NBC News, added that for a U.S. attorney to demote veteran leaders, directing them to handle misdemeanor cases instead of the felonies they’ve long handled, “is considered a significant departure.”
Of course, to a breathtaking degree, many of Martin’s recent moves represent “a significant departure” from how U.S. attorneys tend to conduct themselves, especially in one of the nation’s most important and most high-profile prosecutorial offices.
Martin describing himself as one of the president’s lawyers was a significant departure.
Martin weighing in a civil case involving the White House, which had literally nothing to do with his office, was a significant departure.
Martin’s reported role in a dubious Environmental Protection Agency investigation was a significant departure.
Martin’s reported steps in the case involving Republican Rep. Cory Mills of Florida was a significant departure.
Martin launching the wildly unnecessary “Operation Whirlwind” was a significant departure.
Martin launching the wildly unnecessary “Project 1512” initiative was a significant departure.
Martin creepy public vow to wield his prosecutorial powers against those who get in Elon Musk’s way was a significant departure. Martin’s brazen conflict of interest in a Jan. 6 case, in which he effectively took both sides of a criminal case, was a significant departure. Martin kicking off a radically unnecessary investigation into Jack Smith and a law firm that gave the former special counsel pro bono legal services was a significant departure. In case anyone needs a reminder, Martin is a longtime Republican operative with a record as a far-right anti-abortion activist, organizer for the misguided “Stop the Steal” movement and a lawyer representing Jan. 6 criminals. In a piece for New York magazine, Elie Honig described the lawyer as Trump’s “dangerous and ridiculous pet prosecutor.” Martin seems to be going out of his way to prove his many critics right.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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