Senate Dems Demand Confirmation Hearing On Ed Martin: His ‘Record Merits Heightened Scrutiny’

A group of Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are demanding a confirmation hearing on President Donald Trump’s nominee for D.C. U.S. Attorney Ed Martin, arguing that Martin has “abused his position in multiple ways since being named Interim U.S. Attorney.”

In an April 2 letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Dick Durbin (D-IL), along with nine other Democrats on the panel acknowledged that although the Senate Judiciary Committee does not usually hold hearings for nominees for U.S. attorney, “Mr. Martin’s record merits heightened scrutiny by the Committee.”

Democrats are, of course, in the minority in the Senate as well, and can’t force Republicans on the committee to hold a hearing. 

But the letter details what Democrats describe as Martin’s “objectionable record,” specifically highlighting his involvement in the “Stop the Steal” movement and his retaliatory actions against those involved in the January 6 persecutions and any of Trump’s perceived political enemies. 

“Prior to his appointment as interim U.S. Attorney, Mr. Martin made stunning attacks on federal prosecutors and associated himself with individuals who present a threat to our nation,” the letter reads. “Mr. Martin was a leader of the so-called ‘Stop the Steal’ movement to illegally overturn the 2020 election. He was on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, and has repeatedly downplayed the violence perpetrated against law enforcement that day.”

“Mr. Martin has also abused his position in multiple ways since being named Interim U.S. Attorney,” they continue. “Among his first official actions were to shut down the section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia (USAO-DC) that was handling January 6 cases and terminate numerous prosecutors who were involved in prosecuting January 6 rioters.”

The letter also specifically notes the recent resignation of the federal prosecutor in charge of the criminal division in the Washington, D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office, Denise Cheung, who resigned from her post after refusing to follow a directive from Martin to initiate an investigation into the Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency funding decisions.

“Despite the apparent lack of evidence, Mr. Martin proceeded to personally apply for a seizure warrant that was subsequently rejected by a U.S. magistrate judge, who reportedly found that the application did not establish a reasonable belief that a crime had occurred,” the letter said about Cheung’s resignation. 

Wednesday’s letter follows Senate Judiciary Committee member Adam Schiff’s (D- CA) announcement earlier this week that he plans to place a hold on Martin’s nomination. Schiff said Martin has “demolished the firewalls between the White House and his own office within the Department of Justice.”

Although senators have the authority to place a hold on a presidential nominee, the hold may only stall the nomination, but not prevent it from moving forward entirely. Vice President JD Vance took similar actions during the Biden administration when he was a senator to hold up the confirmations of several of Biden’s U.S. attorney nominees. 

Last month too, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee called for the Justice Department Inspector General to investigate Martin. 

In a letter to Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz, Raskin argued Martin, was using his office to “illegally attack critics and perceived enemies of the Trump Administration while endangering the public safety of the citizens of and visitors to our nation’s capital.”