Controversial pro-Trump attorney Ed Martin leaving administration
Ed Martin, the pro-Trump lawyer who has been at the center of several controversies, is departing the administration, the president announced.
August 21, 2026 / 3:48 PM EDT / CBS News
Martin previously served as interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia during a tenure that was marked by turmoil. He later served as the head of then-Attorney General Pam Bondi's "Weaponization Working Group" and has most recently served as pardon attorney , an advisory position in the department that involves reviewing clemency applications and making recommendations.
Martin was President Trump's first pick to be the top federal prosecutor in D.C., but he failed to garner enough support from the Republican-controlled Senate to win permanent confirmation. Senators took issue with his advocacy on behalf of rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
"Ed Martin has been with me from the very beginning, and done an incredible job as an Attorney, Director of the Weaponization Working Group, and the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia," Mr. Trump wrote , adding he is "leaving to go outside to fight Legal Battles for the upcoming Midterm Election, and the Presidential Election of 2028."
Under Martin's watch as interim U.S. attorney, more than a dozen probationary federal prosecutors who had handled investigations into the Jan. 6 attack were fired. Martin, who was involved with the "Stop the Steal" movement in the wake of Mr. Trump's loss in the 2020 presidential election, also ordered prosecutors to launch an internal inquiry into how they decided to charge some Jan. 6 defendants with felony obstruction charges.