GOP senator torpedoes Trump’s pick to serve as US attorney for DC
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who faces a tough re-election race in 2026, has informed the White House that he will not support Ed Martin, President Trump’s choice to serve as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, torpedoing the controversial nomination.
Martin is currently serving as the interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia and has coming under strong criticism for helping to organize the “Stop the Steal” movement after the 2020 election and for serving as defense counsel to people charged with Jan. 6-related crimes.
Tillis told reporters Tuesday morning that he will not support Martin’s nomination to remain as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia because of his advocacy for people convicted of Jan. 6-related crimes.
A “no” vote from Tillis kills the nomination because Republicans have a 12-10 majority on the Senate Judiciary Committee and all Democrat on the panel also oppose Martin’s nomination. The nominee could not advance on an 11-11 deadlock.
Martin met with Tillis Monday afternoon in an effort to allay the senators’ concerns, making the argument that many people charged and convicted of Jan. 6-related crimes were over-prosecuted.
But in the end Tillis and Martin couldn’t see eye-to-eye on the 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol, which forced the evacuation of Senate and House members as they convened to certify Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.
“Most of my concerns relate to Jan. 6,” Tillis said Tuesday. “I think that anybody that breached the perimeter should have been imprisoned for some period of time, whether it’s 30 days or three years is debatable but I have no tolerance for anybody who entered the building on Jan. 6 and that’s probably where most of the friction was.”
Tillis said Martin argued to him that some people who were prosecuted for Jan. 6-related crimes “got caught up” in the crowd that entered the Capitol.
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