Ed Martin, a Trump confidant who directed the Justice Department's "weaponization working group" investigating prosecutors, is leaving the administration to focus on election-related legal challenges.
Trump announced Martin's departure Friday on Truth Social, praising him as someone "with me from the very beginning." The president said Martin is "now leaving to go outside to fight Legal Battles for the upcoming Midterm Election, and the Presidential Election of 2028."
Martin served most recently as pardon attorney. Trump appointed him interim U.S. attorney for D.C. in January 2025 despite his lack of prosecutorial experience, and Martin quickly moved to fire and demote prosecutors who handled Capitol riot cases. He also launched an investigation into how the D.C. office conducted its Jan. 6 inquiry.
Trump withdrew Martin's nomination for the permanent D.C. U.S. attorney position in May 2025 after Senate resistance. Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, a Judiciary Committee member, said he would support Martin elsewhere but not in the district where the Capitol riot occurred.
After his nomination collapsed, Trump reassigned Martin to pardon attorney and put him in charge of a "weaponization working group" tasked with investigating prosecutors who had looked into Trump and his allies. In February 2026, however, Trump stripped Martin of that leadership role.
Martin confirmed his departure Friday by reposting Trump's announcement on X.
