Ed Martin, a close ally of President Donald Trump, has been quietly removed from his role overseeing a controversial Justice Department initiative examining alleged political misuse of federal prosecutions, according to a person familiar with the internal shift.
Martin is no longer in charge of the department’s so-called Weaponization Working Group, a project launched to revisit criminal cases tied to Trump, his supporters, and decisions taken during the previous administration. While the assignment has been taken off his plate, Martin has not exited the department altogether. He continues to serve as the Justice Department’s pardon attorney, advising the White House on clemency decisions and sentence reductions.
The change has come with visible downgrades. Martin no longer operates out of Justice Department headquarters and has been relocated to a satellite office where the pardon attorney’s staff is based. The move, described as an internal personnel decision, was confirmed by a source who spoke on condition of anonymity.
When asked about Martin’s status, a Justice Department spokesperson declined to characterize the move as a demotion, saying only that Martin was appointed as pardon attorney by President Trump and remains in that role.
Martin previously held one of the most sensitive portfolios inside the department. The Weaponization Working Group was set up to scrutinize whether federal law enforcement had been politically motivated in pursuing cases against Trump, those involved in the January 6 Capitol riot, and other matters linked to the prior administration. Martin’s stewardship of that effort repeatedly attracted attention and criticism.
Earlier, Trump had installed Martin as interim U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., where he oversaw the dismissal of remaining Capitol riot prosecutions and took action against prosecutors who had handled those cases. His bid to keep the job permanently stalled in the Senate amid concerns, including from within the president’s own party, over his public sympathy for some of the rioters.
After that nomination faltered, Martin was reassigned to a broader Justice Department role that combined oversight of the weaponization review with clemency recommendations. In that capacity, he was involved in re-examining the events surrounding the Capitol attack and became linked to other politically sensitive inquiries, including mortgage-related investigations involving administration critics.
Some of those probes later drew internal pushback, including the withdrawal of certain information requests and subpoenas, adding to scrutiny of Martin’s conduct and authority.
For now, Martin remains part of the Justice Department’s machinery—but without the high-profile mandate that once put him at the center of debates over politics, prosecutions, and the limits of federal power.
