Washington
Trump loyalist Ed Martin is leaving the Justice Department to focus on election ‘legal battles’
WASHINGTON (AP) — 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 U.S. 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 D.C. U.S. 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 U.S. 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. His Department of Justice has been trying to gather detailed state voter data to hunt for noncitizens, and he has been pushing Congress to pass a bill that would require documentary proof of citizenship to vote in time for the November elections.
The FBI has obtained voting records or election equipment from the most populous counties in the battleground states of Arizona, Georgia and Michigan without saying what it was searching for. Trump also has issued two executive orders seeking to take control of certain election operations, even though the Constitution grants states and Congress the authority to determine election rules.
Democratic state officials have been raising alarms about the possibility of the administration deploying federal immigration agents to polling places or ordering the military to voting locations or election offices, although administration officials have said they have no such plans.
Washington
U.S. Postal Service issues new rule for mail ballots, but its impact on the midterms is uncertain
The U.S. Postal Service has unveiled new requirements for mail ballots less than two weeks before some states begin sending them, but the regulation will take effect only if the Supreme Court allows President Donald Trump’s order restricting voting by mail to go forward.
The final regulation was issued Friday night, but may end up as just a footnote in the lengthy legal battle against Trump’s order, which a federal judge in Boston has frozen ahead of November’s elections.
The administration has asked the high court to lift that injunction. But a second one from the same judge would prevent the Postal Service from implementing any procedural changes before this year’s midterms and would likely need to be nullified, as well.
Time is running out for the administration to make any changes in the nation’s voting procedures. The first mail ballots are required to be sent to military and overseas voters from North Carolina on Sept. 4. At that point, it would be virtually impossible for all states to alter the formatting of their mail ballots to comply with Trump’s directive. The Postal Service rule also requires states to submit voter lists in order to get their mail ballots delivered.
The Postal Service said it could not comment on its rule given the litigation.
Lawyers from Democratic-run states and civil rights groups who sued to block the order argued that Trump doesn’t have the authority to change election regulations in states. The U.S. Constitution vests that power in the states or Congress, which has been unable to pass Trump’s desired election changes.
The Trump administration appealed to the Supreme Court last month to let it move forward with the executive order, which calls for the federal government to compile a list of eligible voters and send mail ballots only to those on the list. The high court has not yet taken action.
Trump loyalist Ed Martin is leaving the Justice Department to focus on election ‘legal battles’
WASHINGTON (AP) — 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 U.S. 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 D.C. U.S. 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 U.S. 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. His Department of Justice has been trying to gather detailed state voter data to hunt for noncitizens, and he has been pushing Congress to pass a bill that would require documentary proof of citizenship to vote in time for the November elections.
The FBI has obtained voting records or election equipment from the most populous counties in the battleground states of Arizona, Georgia and Michigan without saying what it was searching for. Trump also has issued two executive orders seeking to take control of certain election operations, even though the Constitution grants states and Congress the authority to determine election rules.
Democratic state officials have been raising alarms about the possibility of the administration deploying federal immigration agents to polling places or ordering the military to voting locations or election offices, although administration officials have said they have no such plans.
Washington
U.S. Postal Service issues new rule for mail ballots, but its impact on the midterms is uncertain
The U.S. Postal Service has unveiled new requirements for mail ballots less than two weeks before some states begin sending them, but the regulation will take effect only if the Supreme Court allows President Donald Trump’s order restricting voting by mail to go forward.
The final regulation was issued Friday night, but may end up as just a footnote in the lengthy legal battle against Trump’s order, which a federal judge in Boston has frozen ahead of November’s elections.
The administration has asked the high court to lift that injunction. But a second one from the same judge would prevent the Postal Service from implementing any procedural changes before this year’s midterms and would likely need to be nullified, as well.
Time is running out for the administration to make any changes in the nation’s voting procedures. The first mail ballots are required to be sent to military and overseas voters from North Carolina on Sept. 4. At that point, it would be virtually impossible for all states to alter the formatting of their mail ballots to comply with Trump’s directive. The Postal Service rule also requires states to submit voter lists in order to get their mail ballots delivered.
The Postal Service said it could not comment on its rule given the litigation.
Lawyers from Democratic-run states and civil rights groups who sued to block the order argued that Trump doesn’t have the authority to change election regulations in states. The U.S. Constitution vests that power in the states or Congress, which has been unable to pass Trump’s desired election changes.
The Trump administration appealed to the Supreme Court last month to let it move forward with the executive order, which calls for the federal government to compile a list of eligible voters and send mail ballots only to those on the list. The high court has not yet taken action.
