WASHINGTON (AP) — Conservative activist Ed Martin has been removed as head of the Justice Department group tasked with scrutinizing the federal prosecutions of President Donald Trump and is no longer working out of department headquarters, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Martin remains the department’s pardon attorney, but is now working out of a building across Washington that houses some Justice Department offices, the person said. Martin had previously been working on the fourth floor at Justice Department headquarters, which houses the deputy attorney general's office.
It was not immediately clear why Martin was no longer in charge of the “Weaponization Working Group,” created on Attorney General Pam Bondi’s first day in office last year, but another person familiar with the matter said the group under his leadership was not making much progress. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an internal personnel matter.
Efforts to reach Martin by telephone and email weren't immediately successful Monday.
Martin has been a leading figure in — and cheerleader for — Trump’s campaign to use the Justice Department to prosecute his political enemies, including former FBI director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. A judge dismissed the Comey and James prosecutions in November, concluding that the prosecutor who brought the charges at Trump ’s urging was illegally appointed by the Justice Department.
Last January, Trump installed Martin as interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. Martin, who had no prior prosecutorial experience, immediately injected partisan politics into the nation's largest U.S. Attorney's office. He fired and demoted subordinates who worked on politically sensitive cases, including Capitol riot prosecutions. He posted on social media about potential targets of investigations. And he oversaw the dismissal of hundreds of Jan. 6 cases after Trump's sweeping act of clemency for all Capitol riot defendants.
But the president yanked Martin's nomination to keep the job on a more permanent basis two days after a key Republican senator said he could not support Martin for the job. Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina opposed Martin's nomination because of his outspoken advocacy for rioters who attacked the Capitol.
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 attack and later served on the board of a nonprofit that raised money to support Capitol riot defendants and their families.
Last May, Trump picked Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to replace Martin as the top federal prosecutor. Martin immediately moved over to department headquarters to serve as pardon attorney.