Democrats seek hearing on Ed Martin pick for US attorney in DC

Ryan Tarinelli, CQ-Roll Call on Apr 3, 2025

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WASHINGTON — Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee ramped up a campaign this week against Edward Martin’s bid to become U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, pushing for a hearing on the conservative activist who represented defendants charged in the 2021 attack on the Capitol.

While the committee doesn’t typically hold hearings for U.S. attorney nominees, Martin’s record “merits heightened scrutiny,” the Democrats said in a letter Wednesday to Chairman Charles E. Grassley.

The Iowa Republican for now denied that request during a committee meeting Thursday, after Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the panel’s top Democrat, spent minutes tearing into Martin’s nomination.

Grassley went out of his way to say his decision was based on committee precedent. “I don’t want what I’m saying to be interpreted as disagreeing with anything you described about this individual,” Grassley told Durbin. “And what you’ve heard is relatively new to me.”

Durbin had said lawmakers should hear from Martin because his record is “so controversial and so objectionable.”

The senator said he plans to personally appeal to Republican lawmakers to support his push for a hearing. But if there’s no agreement by the next meeting, he’ll ask for a committee vote on a hearing.

“I believe that your members on the Republican side of the aisle will be as outraged and embarrassed by this background as any member on the Democratic side of the aisle,” Durbin told Grassley.

Martin, who went to Saint Louis University School of Law, previously worked as president of the Eagle Forum Education and Legal Defense Fund and previously served as chief of staff to former Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt. He was chairman of the Missouri Republican Party and previously ran for a congressional seat in Missouri.

Democrats say Martin is wholly unqualified for the position, highlighting his ties to defendants arrested in connection to the Capitol attack and his conduct as interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.

They have outlined a torrent of objections about Martin, arguing he’s abused his current role by using the threat of prosecution to chill citizens’ speech and intimidate government workers.

His behavior, they said in the letter, shows a “willingness to ignore basic legal standards in order to pursue politically motivated investigations and threaten the Administration’s perceived political opponents.”

Despite loud complaints, Democrats on the Judiciary Committee have been helpless to stop ardent Trump allies, such as Attorney General Pamela Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel, from being confirmed to key posts within the Justice Department.

Senate Democrats made a formal complaint against Martin with the Office of Disciplinary Counsel last month, asking for an investigation and saying his actions might constitute professional misconduct.

The lawmakers pointed to a situation in which they say Martin, acting in the interim role, moved to dismiss charges against a Jan. 6 defendant he represented.

Martin appears to have doubled down on his brazen approach, unlike other controversial Trump nominees who have softened their messaging or kept a lower profile while facing Senate confirmation.

In February, after The Associated Press filed a lawsuit against administration officials over press access, Martin said in a statement posted on social media: “As President Trumps’ (sic) lawyers, we are proud to fight to protect his leadership as our President and we are vigilant in standing against entities like the AP that refuse to put America first.”

Sen. Adam B. Schiff, D-Calif., announced Tuesday he would plans to put a hold on Martin’s nomination.

“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,” Schiff said in a statement, adding that confirming Martin would “threaten the rights of Americans from all walks of life.”

“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,” Schiff added.

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