CORRECTING THE RECORD: Is Trump’s Former Weaponization Chief Really Planning to Leave DOJ?
Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell /
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Though President Donald Trump’s pardon attorney Ed Martin no longer coordinates a Justice Department working group investigating the weaponization of government, he has no imminent plans to leave the agency, two sources familiar with the matter tell The Daily Signal.
CNN reported that Martin was expected to leave his role in the coming weeks.
“President Trump appointed Ed Martin as Pardon Attorney, and Ed continues [to] do a great job in that role,” a DOJ spokesperson told The Daily Signal.
Trump first picked Martin as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia in February of last year, but he withdrew the nomination due to lack of Senate support.
Trump instead named Martin pardon attorney and put him in charge of the Justice Department’s Weaponization Working Group, which Attorney General Pam Bondi chartered in February 2025 to review “conduct [which] appears to have been designed to achieve political objectives.”
However, Martin will maintain his role as pardon attorney, meaning he oversees presidential pardons and commutations.
It became impractical for Martin to work at the pardon office and coordinate the weaponization working group at the main Justice Department, a DOJ official said, as he was performing two entirely different roles in two different locations.
Martin is now working out of a satellite building of the Justice Department at 2 Constitution Avenue, where the Office of the Pardon Attorney is located, along with many other key DOJ offices.
The Weaponization Working Group never had a full-time staff, the official said. The group consisted of lawyers looking into examples of where the Justice Department under former President Joe Biden arguably weaponized the agency against conservatives.
Investigators probed complaints of the Federal Bureau of Investigations targeting traditional Catholics in Richmond, comparing parents who complained to school boards to domestic terrorists, and prosecuting pro-life protesters under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act.
Some of these projects are ongoing, but Martin is no longer overseeing them.
“President Trump is deeply appreciative of the important work being done by everyone at the Department of Justice – including both [Deputy Attorney General] Todd Blanche and Ed Martin,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said.
“Anonymous sources attempting to sow division should not be taken seriously,” she added.
Key figures in the MAGA base strongly support Martin.
“Ed Martin is the people’s champion for accountability. The base sacredly trusts him to fight the hardest on these issues,” Oversight Project executive director Mike Howell told The Daily Signal. “President Trump is lucky to have such a loyal and fierce advocate.”
Former Chief White House Strategist Steve Bannon said Martin has the capacity to do a lot more than oversee presidential pardons.
“I’d rather him in main Justice on weaponization,” Bannon said on War Room. “I think it’s good for the country. This guy’s a total warrior. if not, please, we got to keep him in the White House in a senior position.”
The Daily Signal’s Tyler O’Neil contributed to this report.