Trump’s top DC prosecutor nominee facing some GOP headwinds

By Evan Perez and Annie Grayer, CNN

(CNN) — As controversies pile up around President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as US attorney for Washington, DC, Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee met behind closed doors this week to discuss concerns about Ed Martin’s nomination and whether senators should take the extraordinary step of holding a hearing on it.

The senators-only meeting on Tuesday came as Republicans face a tightening timeline to decide whether to turn a blind eye to the cloud surrounding Martin and fall in line behind Trump or buck the president’s nominee for DC’s top prosecutor. Martin’s post as interim US attorney runs out on May 20.

North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, who serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee, told CNN he has “serious questions” about Martin’s nomination, given his previous comments denigrating police officers who defended the US Capitol during the January 6, 2021, attack.

Tillis attended the Tuesday meeting and raised some of his concerns with other members. “I let everyone know there that I’m completing my due diligence,” he told CNN.

The purpose of the meeting, according to Tillis, was to discuss how to handle the Democratic demand to hold a hearing on Martin. Democrats could force a vote on the matter as soon as Thursday.

US attorney nominations typically aren’t subject to individual hearings, and Tillis said he believed Republicans came to a consensus in the private meeting to not support one because of concerns it could set a precedent.

Tillis, who plans to meet with Martin, said he is still in the process of figuring out his final position on the nomination. He said, however, that he would have an easier time supporting Martin if he had been picked to represent a different jurisdiction.

“I’m talking about somebody who wants to be [US attorney] in the jurisdiction where that event and future events could possibly occur,” Tillis said, referring to January 6. “And I’m going to have to get some pretty fulsome responses for me to feel comfortable with this nomination.”

CNN has reached out to Martin for comment.

On his podcast in 2024, Martin claimed that two officers who defended the Capitol on January 6 “appear to have lied” about being “mistreated” and accused them of possible perjury. Martin singled out former DC police officer Michael Fanone — whom he called a “fake cop” on social media in 2024 — and former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn, suggesting both fabricated their accounts of the attack.

Fanone was stun-gunned several times and beaten with a flagpole during the attack. He suffered a heart attack and a concussion during the riot and has dealt with both a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder since.

GOP Sen. John Cornyn, whom Martin once derided as “soft” for supporting a bipartisan gun safety bill, said the nominee was “controversial.” But when asked by CNN about his concerns, the Texas Republican said: “I’ll share those at the appropriate time.”

Fellow Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Lindsey Graham told CNN he didn’t know whether Martin’s nomination was in jeopardy, but the South Carolina Republican said separately that “there were some things that were left out of his filings that I want to look at.”

A CNN K-File analysis found that Martin failed to report nearly 200 media appearances that he had made in the past few years when he first filed his mandated disclosure forms to Congress. Those appearances included many on far-right outlets and Russian-state media.

Martin has drawn attention for a number of controversial moves during his short tenure, including having referred to the nation’s largest office of federal prosecutors as “President Trumps’ [sic] lawyers,” and demoting senior attorneys who worked on January 6, 2021, Capitol riot cases.

Top Justice Department officials, who had preferred another candidate for the job, have had to caution Martin about some of his public activities since taking office. Nonetheless, they have come to terms with the fact that he is Trump’s pick and are doing everything they can to help get him confirmed, sources briefed on the matter told CNN.

Allies of Trump and Martin have made clear that the president has so far been thrilled with Martin’s job performance.

“Martin is President Trump’s favorite US Attorney,” one source familiar with his nomination process said.

Martin and his allies have pressed ahead to try shore up support. He has traveled to Capitol Hill to meet with senators in recent weeks, according to a person briefed on the matter.

Martin’s past statements targeting Republicans could also be an issue for him if his nomination reaches the Senate floor for a final vote.

Sen. John Curtis, who Martin referred to as a “supposed Republican” and “traitor” for voting to extend the deadline for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, said he doesn’t “want to be petty” when it comes to whether he supports his nomination. But the Utah Republican said he has concerns about Martin’s qualifications and hopes his Republican colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing to question him.

“I hope they do,” Curtis said. “That’s where a lot of these questions would really get vetted.
That would be helpful.”

In other past comments, Martin said Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski “pretends to represent conservatives” and deserved to be primaried, and he praised the potential censure of Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins because she voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial. Martin also said Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell was part of a “swamp fix” who became rich from their work in government.

In recent written responses to the Senate Judiciary Committee under oath, Martin said he did not remember if he ever denigrated a police officer who was injured defending the Capitol on January 6. In the same document, Martin refused to say unequivocally there was violence that day.

Martin has served as a defense attorney for a handful of January 6 rioters and attended Trump’s speech at the Ellipse near the Capitol the day of the attack.

Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley told CNN Wednesday that his panel still had not received the necessary paperwork from the FBI to move forward with Martin’s nomination.

“That’s protocol,” he said.

GOP Sen. Josh Hawley, who serves on the Judiciary panel and supports Martin, pushed back on some of the past controversial comments.

“I don’t believe any of that. I know Ed personally. He’s a Missouri guy,” he said.

CNN’s Paula Reid, Manu Raju and Ted Barrett contributed to this report.

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