A former Missouri GOP chairman and key leader of the “Stop the Steal” movement who defended a Kansas City-area Proud Boy in his Capitol riot case faces a contentious confirmation battle as President Donald Trump’s nominee for Washington, D.C.’s top prosecutor.

Ed Martin, who led the state Republican Party from 2013 to 2015 and was outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, tweeting that it was “like Mardi Gras,” has been sparking upheaval ever since Trump appointed him interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia on Jan. 20.

One of Martin’s first actions was to file motions to dismiss the cases of many of the nearly 1,600 Jan. 6 defendants who were granted clemency by Trump on the day of his inauguration — among them, those charged with assaulting police officers.

And Martin did so while still on record as representing at least two defendants — including William Chrestman, the ax handle-wielding Olathe Proud Boy sentenced in early 2024 to 55 months in prison after pleading guilty to charges that included threatening a federal officer.

Now, while awaiting confirmation on Trump’s nomination for him to permanently fill the U.S. attorney position, Martin has come under intense scrutiny.

Critics, including former Missouri U.S. senators from both parties, say he’s become more like the president’s mouthpiece and attack dog than the chief prosecutor fighting crime in the nation’s capital. He’s even called his office “President Trump’s lawyers.”

Martin isn’t just blurring ethical boundaries, they say — he’s obliterating them. And ignoring the line of separation between U.S. attorneys and the White House.

In Missouri, Martin’s professional career has been peppered with controversy; Republicans and Democrats alike say he is known for generating turmoil. As director of the Human Rights Office for the Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis, he fired several staffers in what some called a rooting out of liberals.

As chairman of the St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners, he received high marks from the Democratic mayor for reforming the office, but his dismissal and demotion of staffers resulted in a lawsuit by one who alleged that he fired her because she was “not Republican enough.”

He resigned as former Gov. Matt Blunt’s chief of staff after 15 months amid a flap over instructing staffers to delete office emails. He left the position of state GOP chairman under criticism of dismal fundraising efforts and financial problems.

And after being ousted as president of Phyllis Schlafly’s Eagle Forum in 2016 by the conservative activist’s daughter and five other board members, he formed a rival organization with Schlafly’s sons, resulting in ongoing legal battles and a major family rift. Both groups call themselves the legitimate Schlafly organization.

Martin also has run unsuccessfully for several offices over the years, including Missouri attorney general and Congress.

“This is a guy who’s been searching for power as long as he’s been breathing and has only found a warm home with zealots,” said former U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Democrat from Missouri. “He is not President Trump’s lawyer; he is the people’s lawyer. He’s taken an oath to the Constitution. And he sees Donald Trump as way more important than the Constitution.”

Former U.S. Sen. John Danforth, a Missouri Republican, told The Star that the announcement of Martin’s nomination to one of the most high-profile U.S. attorney offices in the country was “eye-popping.”

“Let’s say that if you were to make a list of 10,000 Republican lawyers to serve as U.S. Attorney for D.C., I would not put Ed on that list,” he said.

Danforth, who represented Missouri from 1976 to 1995, described Martin as “a character.”

“I thought he was enjoyable,” he said. “He is a Republican.” But to be considered for the U.S. attorney position in the nation’s capital, he said: “Oh, my goodness, no. It’s absurd.

“The one thing that I thought that the Republican Party stood for was the constitutional order and the rule of law,” Danforth said. “And the challenge to the election and the assertion that it was stolen is a direct assault on the constitutional order and also on the finality of judicial decisions. And to attack the election, and particularly to have a lawyer do it, it’s not just a minor thing. It’s totally unacceptable. What’s going on here really is unbelievable.”

McCaskill, who served as Jackson County prosecutor for six years in the 1990s, said a prosecutor’s job “is pretty straightforward.”

“You look at the facts. You apply the law,” she said. “And you charge people where there’s sufficient evidence with the crimes committed. And he’s throwing all of that out because he sees his job 100 percent as promoting MAGA and whatever Donald Trump wants.”

McCaskill said most people probably don’t realize that the U.S. attorney in the District of Columbia is not only in charge of prosecuting federal crimes but also serious local crimes in D.C.

“So for somebody to come into that office with no prosecution experience and to focus on strictly political bomb-throwing is such a disservice to the people who live in the District of Columbia,” she said, “because his primary function should be prosecuting people who are committing violent crimes in the District of Columbia.”

Martin did not respond to requests for comment, nor did Missouri’s current U.S. Sens. Josh Hawley or Eric Schmitt.

Trump nominated Martin for the permanent position on Feb. 17, writing on his Truth Social platform: “Since Inauguration Day, Ed has been doing a great job as Interim U.S. Attorney, fighting tirelessly to restore Law and Order, and make our Nation’s Capital Safe and Beautiful Again. He will get the job done.”

‘Signed on to Trump’s revenge’

The criticism doesn’t appear to faze Martin. He has an active Substack account — Ed Martin’s Pro America — that he describes like this: “We’re naming names and shedding light on the demons, devils, and depravity attempting to destroy our country from within and without.”

In a March 15 post, he said he’d “started to Make DC Safe Again,” filing 10 new federal gun charges.

“We also charged four thugs who dared to lay hands on cops … They were arrested and quickly charged with ‘assault on a police officer,’” Martin wrote. “If you touch a cop — let alone hit one — we are going to charge you. ‘Defend the Blue’ is real.”

The post didn’t mention that more than 170 of the Jan. 6 defendants pardoned by Trump had pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement officers.

Then Martin complained about staff members leaking his emails.

“Personally insulting and professionally unacceptable. But regularly happening … In fact, these days I send my emails as press notifications because I KNOW they will be leaked and covered,” he said.

“But leaking is wrong. And, if you are reading this and you are one of those leaking, here’s a little clue for you: I am not sitting back and just taking the leaks as a fact of life. Nope, I am actively and carefully (quietly!) investigating. And when I find the leaks, you will find the accountability. As Coach Prime says: We comin’.”

Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, said Martin’s actions are disturbing.

“The whole country should be concerned,” Tobias said. “He has signed on to Trump’s revenge, he’s got conflicts of interest which he doesn’t own up to and he’s firing employees of the Justice Department in his office who haven’t done anything wrong.

“In the old days, the custom was if you were the acting or interim whatever, you behaved during that period because everybody’s watching you. And he just seems completely ignorant of that.”

Tobias said the Senate doesn’t typically hold in-person hearings for U.S. attorney nominees.

“The custom is they investigate them in committee, and if there are no red flags they just have a vote,” he said. “So they don’t have to come before the committee. But I think he’s raised so much hell that the Democrats might ask for one. I think there’s a chance he may not get confirmed. But Trump is going to put the pressure on, to be sure.”

Political background in Missouri

Martin was raised in New Jersey and attended the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts, earning a degree in English and a minor in peace and conflict studies, according to his bio. He then studied overseas and received a philosophy degree from the Gregorian Pontifical University in Rome.

After that, Martin moved to St. Louis, earning degrees in law and ethics from St. Louis University. At 28, he became director of the St. Louis archdiocese’s Human Rights Office and after that, was a clerk for a judge in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Later, he became an associate with the Bryan Cave law firm in its D.C. and St. Louis offices before starting his own practice.

In 2005, then-Gov. Blunt appointed Martin chairman of the St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners, then hired him in 2006 as his chief of staff. The next year, Martin was accused of instructing staffers to regularly delete their emails to prevent them from becoming available to the media or public under the state’s Sunshine Law.

Then-Attorney General Jay Nixon launched an investigation into the issue, and a deputy counsel in the governor’s office sued Blunt, Martin and three other aides, alleging Martin fired him after he advised them that deleting staff emails was a violation of Missouri law and the state’s record-retention policies. The state settled the lawsuit for $500,000.

“I had done a number of audits on the Sunshine Law and knew what was required under the Sunshine Law,” said McCaskill, who was state auditor at the time. “And so I was horrified that there would be somebody in that position of power that would be, first of all, blatantly using the office in a political way and then secondly, instructing lawyers that worked in the office to destroy the evidence they had. It cost the state several million dollars to investigate it and to determine that is exactly what he did.”

Martin resigned from the governor’s chief of staff position in November 2007. Blunt responded to The Star’s request for comment about Martin’s U.S. attorney nomination with a statement:

“Ed Martin is hard working, patriotic, and deeply and selflessly committed to his values,” he said. “He is also energetic, fair, kind, and principled. I know he will carry these attributes with him wherever he goes and into any position of public trust. I and countless others are fortunate to have him as a friend.”

In early 2015, after two years as state GOP chairman, Martin resigned to become president of Schlafly’s Eagle Forum. But in April 2016, a majority of the board members — Schlafly’s daughter and five others — voted to remove him, citing concerns over management, fundraising and spending issues, and called for an audit of the organization’s financial records.

Martin issued a news release in response, quoting Schlafly as saying the meeting was invalid and the board members who voted to oust Martin were trying “to wrest control of the organization from me.”

When Martin refused to step down, the board members filed a lawsuit to remove him. After that, he and his supporters, including Schlafly’s sons, created a new group called Phyllis Schlafly’s American Eagles, leading to another lawsuit. Schlafly, whom the organization refers to as its founder, died in September 2016 at 92.

Martin, who goes by @EagleEdMartin on X, resigned as president of Phyllis Schlafly Eagles on Jan. 19 in order to accept the interim U.S. attorney appointment. He was scheduled to be the keynote speaker on March 24 at an event hosted by the group in Naples, Florida. A promo for the gathering said it would feature an “exclusive briefing by D.C. U.S. Attorney Ed Martin.”

“From cleaning up political corruption to sweeping crime out of D.C., Ed is doing great work and making big waves for truth and justice,” it said.

Actions prompt complaints, calls for investigation

As Martin’s confirmation vote looms, examples of his controversial actions are piling up.

On Jan. 5, 2021, he spoke at a rally of Trump supporters in Washington, leading a “Stop the Steal” chant and telling the crowd that “today is just the start of what is going to be a series of events that are going to change the world … ”

“So thank you for standing with all of the patriots next to you, and thank you for standing for our president,” he said. “But remember, what they’re stealing is not just an election. It’s our future, and it’s our republic. And that’s why we’ll never stop. We’ll never stop fighting, because we will stop the steal.”

The next day, after attending Trump’s speech, Martin marched to the Capitol and posted on social media.

“I’m at the Capitol right now,” he wrote on X that afternoon after protesters had breached the building on the other side. “Abd (sic) I was at the POTUS speech earlier. Rowdy crowd but nothing out of hand. Ignore the #FakeNews.” Four minutes later, he posted: “Like Mardi Gras in DC today: love, faith and joy. Ignore #FakeNews.”

In August 2024, while serving as president of Phyllis Schlafly Eagles, Martin presented an award to Jan. 6 defendant Timothy Hale-Cusanelli during an event at Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.

Martin called Hale-Cusanelli, an Army reservist from New Jersey who spent nearly three years in prison for four misdemeanors and a felony conviction, an “extraordinary man” and an “extraordinary leader,” according to NPR.

Hale-Cusanelli was described in court records as an avowed white supremacist and Nazi sympathizer whom dozens of co-workers said had “extremist or radical views pertaining to the Jewish people, minorities and women.’” One Navy petty officer recalled him saying that “Hitler should have finished the job.” Hale-Cusanelli has denied the allegations.

Martin served on the board of the Patriot Freedom Project, a nonprofit that supports Jan. 6 defendants and their families. After being appointed interim U.S. attorney, he ordered an internal review of the office’s filing of a felony obstruction charge against hundreds of them, calling it “a great failure of our office.” On Jan. 31, he dismissed about 30 federal prosecutors who had worked on Capitol riot cases, according to The Washington Post.

On Feb. 6, The 65 Project, a bipartisan group that challenges the licenses of what it calls “Big Lie Lawyers” who seek to overturn legitimate election results, filed a bar complaint against Martin with the Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel in Missouri, saying he had violated conflict of interest rules. The group asked the office to investigate Martin’s role in representing Jan. 6 defendant Joseph Padilla and then, as interim U.S. attorney, filing a motion to dismiss his case while he was still Padilla’s counsel of record.

Padilla, of Tennessee, was sentenced in 2023 to 78 months in prison on eight felony charges that included two assaults on police officers, one with a deadly or dangerous weapon.

Martin ramped things up in February. He launched “Operation Whirlwind,” a strategy to prosecute those who threaten public officials, sending letters to Rep. Robert Garcia, a California Democrat, and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, a Democrat from New York. Martin wanted both men to explain statements they’d made — Garcia’s recent comments involving Trump adviser Elon Musk and Schumer’s 2020 comments about two conservative Supreme Court justices.

Then Martin supported the Trump administration’s Feb. 11 decision to ban The Associated Press from the Oval Office, Air Force One and other areas after the AP said it would continue to use its style on the Gulf of Mexico, which Trump ordered to be renamed the Gulf of America.

“As President Trump’s lawyers, we are proud to fight to protect his leadership as our President and we are vigilant in standing against entities like the AP that refuse to put America first,” Martin said in a statement posted on X.

Also in February, a top supervisor in the U.S. attorney’s D.C. office said Martin forced her to resign after she refused his order to investigate a government contract and freeze the bank accounts of nonprofits that received grants for clean-energy projects during the Biden administration — even though she said there wasn’t sufficient evidence to do so.

And Martin took aim at Georgetown Law School, warning that his office would stop hiring its students if the private Catholic school didn’t eliminate DEI programs.

In a Feb. 17 letter to Dean William Treanor, Martin said, “It has come to my attention reliably that Georgetown Law School continues to teach and promote DEI. This is unacceptable.”

He said he’d begun an inquiry into the issue and if the school continued to teach and “utilize” DEI, “no applicant for our fellows program, our summer internship, or employment in our office” would be considered.

Treanor responded: “Given the First Amendment’s protection of a university’s freedom to determine its own curriculum and how to deliver it, the constitutional violation behind this threat is clear, as is the attack on the University’s mission as a Jesuit and Catholic institution.”

‘Rampant misbehavior and unfitness’

On March 6, 10 Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee asked the Office of Disciplinary Counsel in Washington to investigate their “grave concern” about Martin’s actions since his appointment as interim U.S. Attorney.

“Mr. Martin has abused his position in several ways,” they wrote, “including dismissing charges against his own client and using the threat of prosecution to intimidate government employees and chill the speech of private citizens.”

The letter mentioned two Kansas Jan. 6 defendants: Chrestman and William Pope, of Topeka. It noted that Chrestman was still on record as a client of Martin’s after Martin became interim U.S. attorney. And it said court motions indicated that after his appointment, Martin had been communicating with Pope about his case.

Pope was among Martin’s biggest fans when Trump appointed him interim U.S. Attorney in January. But on March 6, Pope — who represented himself in his Capitol riot case — filed a motion in federal court asking that Martin be sanctioned for refusing to withdraw what Pope said were the government’s false allegations against him.

Pope also said Martin had gone back on his word that Pope was allowed to keep the discovery material in his case. And he said Martin had encouraged him to pursue information related to undercover activity at the Capitol on Jan. 6 but then filed motions “to claw back and hide” that information.

On March 12, Rep. Jamie Raskin, ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, demanded that Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz immediately investigate “apparent ethical, legal, and constitutional violations” committed by Martin.

“In seven short weeks, the list of Mr. Martin’s constitutionally, legally and ethically indefensible actions have grown exponentially,” Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, wrote to Horowitz. He outlined what he called Martin’s “blatant conflict of interest and his troubling use of the office to attack political enemies and retaliate against career prosecutors.”

Also in March, nearly 100 former assistant U.S. attorneys for the District of Columbia asked the Senate Judiciary Committee to “outright and completely” reject Martin’s nomination, The Washington Post reported.

In an open letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, the attorneys — who served under Republican and Democratic administrations dating back to 1964 — said that during what they called his “tryout” phase, Martin “has butchered the position, effectively destroying it as a vehicle by which to pursue justice and turning it into a political arm of the current administration.”

The letter listed numerous examples of Martin’s “rampant misbehavior and unfitness,” including Martin’s refusal to acknowledge the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election; ignoring serious conflicts of interest; and being complicit in Musk’s intimidation tactics that call for the impeachment of judges who fail to approve Trump’s policies and proposals.

“He is unworthy of the position, incapable of the task,” the attorneys said, “and an affront to the singular pursuit of justice for which this Office has stood for more than two centuries.”

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