Trump yanks prosecutor nomination of Ed Martin, who called a Nazi sympathizer ‘extraordinary’

US President Donald Trump says he has pulled his nomination of Ed Martin Jr. to be the top federal prosecutor for the nation’s capital, bowing to bipartisan concerns about the conservative activist’s modest legal experience, divisive politics and support for January 6 rioters.

Instead, the president said Martin will be tapped as an associate deputy attorney general and pardon attorney, putting him in the position of recommending pardons for a slew of defendants involved in the violent insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. When he returned to office in January, Trump granted sweeping pardons and commutations of all people charged with crimes in connection with the riot, or vowed to dismiss their cases.

In his new role, Martin will also be director of the “weaponization working group” at the Justice Department. That group was created in February to investigate the work of former special counsel Jack Smith, who led two federal prosecutions of Trump that were ultimately dismissed, and other instances during the administration of former President Joe Biden that Republicans say unfairly targeted conservatives.

Martin had faced revelations that his ties to Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, a Nazi-sympathizing participant in the January 6 riot, were closer than the nominee had previously described — including under oath in the Senate.

Martin recently apologized for his past vocal praise of Hale-Cusanelli, who was sentenced to four years in prison for his role on Jan. 6 before being pardoned by Trump along with virtually all other Jan. 6 defendants.

A Navy contractor and ex-Army reservist, Hale-Cusanelli sported a Hitler-like mustache and joked online about killing and eating Jews.

As part of Martin’s advocacy for Jan. 6 defendants, he presented Hale-Cusanelli with an “Eagle Award” during an event held at a Trump golf club last year, where he also called the rioter “extraordinary.” He also interviewed him multiple times on his own podcast.

Martin claimed that, at the time, he had not been aware of the extent of Hale-Cusanelli’s views, which he now called “abhorrent and deplorable.” But reviews of Martin’s media output revealed that he had, in fact, asked Hale-Cusanelli about court reports that he’d shown up to work at a naval weapons station saying, “Hitler should have finished the job,” along with multiple other podcast interviews and interactions.