Ed Martin leaving DOJ for election legal work, Trump says

President Donald Trump announced Friday that Ed Martin, the U.S. pardon attorney and director of the Weaponization Working Group, is leaving the Justice Department to take on outside legal work focused on the upcoming midterm and presidential elections.

Trump stated on Truth Social that Martin has been with him from the beginning and has done an incredible job as an Attorney, Director of the Weaponization Working Group, and the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. The president expressed confidence that Martin will "ensure Free, Fair, and Honest Elections, and strongly advance our Constitutional Rights."

Martin, 56, is a conservative activist and lawyer from Missouri who previously represented Jan. 6 defendants before joining the Trump administration. He has been known to advocate conspiracy theories regarding the Jan. 6 attack and the results of the 2020 presidential election. In his role at the Justice Department, Martin administered Trump’s mass clemency for Jan. 6 Capitol rioters and led efforts to review Biden-era prosecutions. He also helped push forward a criminal investigation into New York Attorney General Letitia James for alleged mortgage fraud.

Martin is known to have a complicated relationship with new Attorney General Todd Blanche, though both have stated they respect each other.