Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina has publicly declared his opposition to the nomination of Ed Martin as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. Tillis’ decision, communicated to the White House, is likely to significantly hinder Martin’s chances of advancing through the Senate Judiciary Committee, where Tillis serves as a member.
Tillis spent about half an hour with Martin on Monday evening, calling their discussion positive. His very public opposition to this nomination is deeply troubling. His sole focus appears to be Martin’s previous defense of the criminal defendants from the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol insurrection. In fact, our immediate past president Donald Trump did just that. It was the catalyst of the subsequent riot as they challenged the certification of Joe Biden’s election.
Just as Mr. Martin described the most important idea perfectly in his testimony, many individuals experienced under-prosecution. He cavalierly trumped that with 200 to 300 people who were never worthy of a pardon in the first place, Tillis stated.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in D.C. zealously pursued prosecution of the January 6s. This office has made a name for itself in aggressively pursuing anyone who participated in the insurrection. On his first day back in office in January, Trump released the blanket pardons. He issued these pardons to several defendants entangled in these cases.
Tillis has been adamantly opposed to those who crossed the Capitol’s perimeter on Jan 6th not being punished. We’re with him on this — very much so. “Whether it’s 30 days or three years is debatable, but I have no tolerance for anybody who entered the building on January the Sixth, and that’s probably where most of the friction was,” he explained.
The senator ensured that he would have supported Martin’s nomination to a U.S. Attorney post in another district. With the state of the world today, he decided to take a different approach. “If Mr. Martin were being put forth as a U.S. Attorney for any district except the district where January 6 happened, I’d probably support him, but not in this district,” Tillis noted.
Tillis’ opposition could deal a potentially fatal blow to Ed Martin’s aspirations for Senate confirmation. Martin, one of Trump’s nominees, will require bipartisan support to earn his appointment. Tillis’ strong statement of objection would seem to make that support less likely.
As this situation plays out, we’ll continue to watch and see what impact this opposition has on Martin’s nomination. Second, it might help shape the overall Republican support across the Senate Judiciary Committee.