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WASHINGTON — President Trump announced Friday afternoon that US Pardon Attorney Ed Martin will be leaving the administration to take on a new outside legal role focused on the midterm and 2028 elections.
Martin, 56, previously led the Justice Department’s Weaponization Working Group, spearheading internal efforts to review Biden-era prosecutions of Trump, and helped push forward a criminal investigation of New York Attorney General Letitia James for alleged mortgage fraud.
“Ed Martin has been with me from the very beginning, and done an incredible job as an Attorney, Director of the Weaponization Working Group, and the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“Ed is now leaving to go outside to fight Legal Battles for the upcoming Midterm Election, and the Presidential Election of 2028. I know he will do an outstanding job, ensure Free, Fair, and Honest Elections, and strongly advance our Constitutional Rights. Good luck Ed!”
Martin is known to have a complicated relationship with new Attorney General Todd Blanche, who was confirmed by the Senate Aug. 8, though both men insist they admire and respect each other despite their differences.
As pardon attorney, Martin administered Trump’s mass clemency for Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol rioters — while the president unconventionally granted pardons and sentence commutations to many people who lobbied outside the standard process.
Alice Johnson, whom Trump freed from prison during his first term, remains in place as White House pardon czar.
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