Trump loyalist Ed Martin leaves DOJ to focus on election legal battles

Martin has been a controversial Trump administration figure since his appointment last year as interim US attorney for the District of Columbia | Image: X@EdMartinDOJ

Ed Martin, a loyal White House ally who held multiple Justice Department posts despite unconventional tactics that sometimes rankled his superiors, is leaving President Donald Trump's administration, the Republican president said Friday.

Trump said in a social media post that Martin is leaving his role as the Justice Department's pardon attorney to "fight Legal Battles" surrounding this year's midterm elections and the 2028 presidential election.

"I know he will do an outstanding job, ensure Free, Fair, and Honest Elections, and strongly advance our Constitutional Rights," Trump wrote.

Martin has been a controversial Trump administration figure since his appointment last year as interim US attorney for the District of Columbia, where he oversaw the dismissal of Jan. 6 cases after Trump's sweeping pardons. Trump later pulled Martin's nomination for the job over bipartisan concerns about his lack of prosecutorial experience and support for rioters who violently attacked the Capitol.

He then moved to Justice Department headquarters as pardon attorney and director of a group tasked with scrutinizing actions by President Joe Biden's administration that Republicans say unfairly targeted conservatives. Then-Attorney General Pam Bondi also named him a special attorney to help conduct mortgage fraud investigations into Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

He often raised eyebrows during his tenure. In one instance, while conducting his mortgage fraud investigation into James, he sent her a letter urging her to resign from office "as an act of good faith." He also posed for photos outside her Brooklyn home.

The Justice Department's case against James was dismissed after the judge found that another prosecutor who brought the charges was illegally appointed.

Martin was later sidelined amid clashes with Justice Department leadership and was removed as head of the "Weaponization Working Group," though he kept his title as pardon attorney.

In a social media post Friday, Attorney General Todd Blanche called Martin a "patriot who loves this nation." Martin didn't immediately respond to a message Friday, but on his X account he reposted Trump's announcement with the message: "Proud to serve. Fight Fight Fight." Before his nomination as DC US attorney, Martin was a leader of Trump's "Stop the Steal" movement. He spoke at a rally in Washington on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol and later served on the board of a nonprofit that raised money to support Capitol riot defendants and their families.

Trump's post is the latest sign of his obsession with voting in the upcoming midterm elections, which will determine control of the US House and Senate for the final two years of his presidency.

His administration has fixated on messaging around noncitizen voting, a rare problem that Trump falsely insists is a widespread source of fraud.