President Donald Trump said that he would pull Ed Martin’s nomination for D.C. U.S. Attorney after a key Republican said he would not support Martin.
“He’s a terrific person,” Trump said of Martin. “He wasn’t getting the support from people that I thought. He’s done a very good job. Crime is down 25% in DC.”
“We have somebody else that will be great. I just want to say, Ed is unbelievable. Hopefully we can bring him into, whether it’s DOJ or whatever in some capacity,” he added.
“I have to be straight. I was disappointed. A lot of people were disappointed. But that’s the way it works sometimes. That’s the way it works. And he wasn’t rejected, but we felt it would be very — it would be hard. And we have somebody else that we’ll be announcing over the next two days who’s going to be great.”
The announcement follows Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) stating he would not support Martin.
“Most of my concerns [are] related to January 6,” Tillis told reporters, adding, “I have no tolerance for anybody who entered the building on January 6 and that’s probably where most of the friction was.”
“If Mr. Martin were being put forth as a U.S. attorney for any district except the district where January 6 happened, the protest happened, I’d probably support him. But not in this district,” Tillis told reporters, adding, “At this point, I’ve indicated to the White House I wouldn’t support his nomination.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in D.C. is considered a “unique” role, according to the Department of Justice. “It serves as both the local and the federal prosecutor for the nation’s capital.”
