President Donald Trump announced Thursday evening he is appointing Ed Martin to be an Associate Deputy Attorney General at the Department of Justice with two jobs, Pardon Attorney and Director of Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Weaponization Working Group.
The appointment comes just hours after Trump withdrew Martin’s nomination to be U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, where he has capably served as interim U.S. Attorney under Trump for the past several months, in the face of Republican opposition over his support for J6ers that was led by Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina. The new positions do not require Senate confirmation.
Trump’s announcement also comes after Martin was spit on by a deranged leftist during a sidewalk interview with Newsmax Thursday afternoon live on air.
The Swamp may have thought they had a victory over Trump today, but Trump’s duel power moves of naming his close friend and ally Judge Jeanine Pirro to replace Martin as interim D.C. U.S. Attorney (with an eye to Senate nomination) and putting Martin in charge of investigating the Biden DOJ’s weaponization against American citizens under Attorney General Merrick Garland is sure to have heads exploding across the D.C. establishment.
From Truth Social:
“Ed Martin has done an AMAZING job as interim U.S. Attorney, and will be moving to the Department of Justice as the new Director of the Weaponization Working Group, Associate Deputy Attorney General, and Pardon Attorney. In these highly important roles, Ed will make sure we finally investigate the Weaponization of our Government under the Biden Regime, and provide much needed Justice for its victims. Congratulations Ed!”
On February 5, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the Weaponization Working Group with a two page memo to department employees:
February 5, 2025
MEMORANDUM FOR ALL DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEES
FROM: THE ATTORNEY GENERAL ~
SUBJECT: RESTORING THE INTEGRITY AND CREDIBILITY OF THE
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE1
The Department of Justice must take immediate and overdue steps to restore integrity and credibility with the public that we are charged with protecting, and to ensure that the Department’s personnel are ready and willing to faithfully implement the policy agenda of the duly elected President of the United States. These steps are required because, as President Trump pointed out following his second inauguration, “[t]he prior administration and allies throughout the country engaged in an unprecedented, third-world weaponization of prosecutorial power to upend the democratic process.” Executive Order, Ending the Weaponization of The Federal Government (Jan. 20, 2025). Thus, “[t]he American people have witnessed the previous administration engage in a systematic campaign against its perceived political opponents, weaponizing the legal force of numerous Federal law enforcement agencies and the Intelligence Community against those perceived political opponents in the form of investigations, prosecutions, civil enforcement actions, and other related actions.” Id.The reconciliation and restoration of the Department of Justice’s core values can only be accomplished through review and accountability. The Department has already started this process but much more work is required. No one who has acted with a righteous spirit and just intentions has any cause for concern about efforts to root out corruption and weaponization. On the other hand, the Department of Justice will not tolerate abuses of the criminal justice process, coercive behavior, or other forms of misconduct. I hereby establish the Weaponization Working Group, which will be led by the Office of the Attorney General and supported by the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, the Office of Legal Policy, the Civil Rights Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, and other personnel as necessary to achieve the objectives set forth herein. The Weaponization Working Group will conduct a review the activities of all departments and agencies exercising (…)
(1 This guidance is not intended to, does not, and may not be relied upon to create, any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.)
(…) civil or criminal enforcement authority of the United States over the last four years, in consultation with the heads of such departments and agencies and consistent with applicable law, to identify instances where a department’s or agency’s conduct appears to have been designed to achieve political objectives or other improper aims rather than pursuing justice or legitimate governmental objectives. The Department of Justice will provide quarterly reports to the White House regarding the progress of the review.
During this review, the Weaponization Working Group will examine, among other things:
• Weaponization by Special Counsel Jack Smith and his staff, who spent more than $50 million targeting President Trump, and the prosecutors and law enforcement personnel who participated in the unprecedented raid on President Trump’s home.
• Federal cooperation with the weaponization by the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, New York Attorney General Letitia James, their respective staffs, and other New York officials to target President Trump, his family, and his businesses.
• The pursuit of improper investigative tactics and unethical prosecutions relating to events at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021-as distinct from good faith actions by federal employees simply following orders from superiors-which diverted resources from combatting violent and serious crime and thus, were pursued at the expense of the safety of residents of the District of Columbia.
• The January 23, 2023, memorandum in which the Federal Bureau of Investigation suggested that certain Catholic religious practices were affiliated with violent extremism and criminal activity.
• Prior Justice Department guidance, policy memoranda, and practices concerning the investigation of parents of school children who expressed sincere, good-faith concerns at local government meetings, including the October 4, 2021 memorandum of former Attorney General Merrick Garland regarding these issues. 2
• Criminal prosecutions under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act for non-violent protest activity.• The retaliatory targeting, and in some instances criminal prosecution, of legitimate whistle blowers.
(2 For the avoidance of doubt, former Attorney General Garland’s October 4, 2021, Memorandum is hereby rescinded.)
President Trump’s Inauguration Day executive order, titled Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government, cited by Bondi reads in part (excerpt):
Sec. 2. Policy. It is the policy of the United States to identify and take appropriate action to correct past misconduct by the Federal Government related to the weaponization of law enforcement and the weaponization of the Intelligence Community.
Sec. 3. Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government. (a) The Attorney General, in consultation with the heads of all departments and agencies of the United States, shall take appropriate action to review the activities of all departments and agencies exercising civil or criminal enforcement authority of the United States, including, but not limited to, the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Federal Trade Commission, over the last 4 years and identify any instances where a department’s or agency’s conduct appears to have been contrary to the purposes and policies of this order, and prepare a report to be submitted to the President, through the Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and the Counsel to the President, with recommendations for appropriate remedial actions to be taken to fulfill the purposes and policies of this order.
(b) The Director of National Intelligence, in consultation with the heads of the appropriate departments and agencies within the Intelligence Community, shall take all appropriate action to review the activities of the Intelligence Community over the last 4 years and identify any instances where the Intelligence Community’s conduct appears to have been contrary to the purposes and policies of this order, and prepare a report to be submitted to the President, through the Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and the National Security Advisor, with recommendations for appropriate remedial actions to be taken to fulfill the purposes and policies of this order. The term “Intelligence Community” has the meaning given the term in section 3003 of title 50, United States Code.
(c) In furtherance of these policies, departments and agencies are directed to comply with applicable document-retention policies and legal obligations. Instances of noncompliance with document-retention policies or legal obligations will be referred to the Attorney General.
Martin thanked the President in a post on X Thursday evening, “Thank you, Mr. President. We will MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Thank you, Mr. President.
We will MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! pic.twitter.com/7ANlyRMscm
— Ed Martin (@EagleEdMartin) May 8, 2025
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