Newly minted weaponization czar Ed Martin is gearing up to take on a myriad of bad actors who the Trump administration says weaponized government powers to punish conservatives and MAGA supporters over recent years.
Martin’s list of potential targets is very wide, including propagators of Russiagate, prosecutors in Capitol riot cases, individuals who allegedly helped cover up COVID-19 origins and even international organizations that have censored Americans.
“The truth is important, and we need it,” Martin told The Post. “Then, after the truth is known, we need to hold those accountable that did the wrongdoing, and we need to also help those who are victims. We have both of those obligations.”
For years, Martin, formerly the Missouri Republican Party chairman, has helped research government weaponization and crafted strategies to combat it.
During the 2024 campaign, he helped craft language in the 2024 GOP platform calling on the party to “stop woke and weaponized government.” He’s also already started going after some key targets.
While serving as interim US attorney for the District of Columbia, a position that is set to expire for him on May 20, he sent out investigatory letters to at least four key officials who were heavily involved with the Russia collusion investigation.
Additionally, Martin demoted at least half a dozen prosecutors who were involved with pursuing the Capitol riot cases at the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
Now that he is set to help the Justice Department’s Weaponization Working Group, he intends to continue those investigations and expand further. He is also looking to probe foreign censorship of Americans and the “appearance of corruption in some of the USAID grants.”
“There may be no limit to the targets, since there was no limit to the weaponization,” Martin told The Post.
To Martin, helping victims of government weaponization restore their reputations and get their lives back on track is a top priority as he heads into his new role as leader of the working group.
“We want to stop the wrongdoing if government’s weaponized,” Martin explained. “We want to hold them accountable. But we also want to help people to get back on their feet and to be able to do things.”
The DOJ’s Weaponization Working Group was established in February by Attorney General Pam Bondi in response to an executive order from Trump to root out remnants of weaponization and hold key perpetrators accountable.
Bondi called on the group to investigate actions by former special counsel Jack Smith’s team, federal assistance with “weaponization” done by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and New York Attorney General Letitia James, tactics used against prosecution of Capitol rioters, the infamous FBI Catholic targeting memo, retaliation against whistleblowers and more.
Martin was an early member of the group, and now, as its leader, he will report to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
Trump named him to the weaponization czar role last week after his bid to get confirmed by the Senate to become a full-fledged US attorney for DC went up in flames when Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) opposed him due to his positions on the Capitol riot.
The president also named him as pardon attorney.
“Many pardons are sort of mundane, right?” Martin reflected. “They’re not famous, they’re not Marc Rich and the political ones — they are people that have simply been wronged.”
Martin says his team will follow the facts where they go and isn’t prejudging potential penalties he might pursue on certain cases.
“Sometimes there’ll be crimes involved, in which case we’ll prosecute. Sometimes there’ll be just the need to make clear this is not how it’s supposed to go,” he said.
Despite the brutal setback he was dealt last week when he became a rare Trump pick to effectively get rejected by the Senate, Martin believes that the way events unfolded worked out for him.
“I think it worked out great,” he said. “I’m gratified that’s happened, but I also just am willing to serve the president.”
One of Martin’s allies, Michael Caputo — a self-styled “smashmouth” politico and Russiagate victim who has helped advise the new czar on weaponization — suggested the way events unfolded could prove to be a blessing in disguise.
“As an originator of serious weaponization policy development on the campaign, Ed has landed exactly where he belongs,” Caputo said.
Martin is also hoping to be somewhat more outward-facing as the leader of the weaponization working group and promised to be very receptive to feedback.
“Anybody who’s got a legitimate example or a complaint or whatever, we want to try to process that,” he said.
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