Ed Martin out as leader of DOJ's 'weaponization' group, sources say

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: NBC News

Feb. 2, 2026, 2:30 PM EST


Trump loyalist Ed Martin is out as leader of the Justice Department’s “weaponization” effort that is investigating prosecutors who launched past probes into President Donald Trump and his allies, two people familiar with the discussions tell NBC News.

When asked whether Martin still served in the role, a Justice Department spokesman told NBC News that Martin continued to serve in a separate role, as pardon attorney. “President Trump appointed Ed Martin as Pardon Attorney and Ed continues to do a great job in that role,” according to the spokesman.

Martin had been serving as interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, but the longtime right-wing activist faced opposition from Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., a key member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Instead, Trump made Martin the pardon attorney and director of the “weaponization working group” established by Attorney General Pam Bondi in response to one of the president’s executive orders. Former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro was eventually named U.S. attorney for D.C.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/ed-martin-dojs-weaponization-czar-sources-say-rcna257093

[AZJonnie]

1. So, we don't know which side instigated this fracture?

Were I to hazard a guess, in the end, not even a lickspittle toady like Martin was able to satisfy IQ47 with sufficiently "incriminating" stuff to leverage against his political enemies.

The primary obstacle to that being: it doesn't exist in the first place.

[orangecrush]

2. Sounds about right

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. Justice Department expected to ramp up efforts to deliver on Trump's 'weaponization' priorities

Justice Department officials are expected to meet Monday to discuss how to reenergize probes that are considered a top priority for President Donald Trump — reviewing the actions of officials who investigated him, according to a source familiar with the plan.
...
But after a year, the group has not produced anything publicly.

In recent weeks, Trump has been pressuring Justice Department officials for results in these and other investigations, recently admonishing a group of US attorneys for failing to deliver on cases he wants brought.

The Weaponization Working Group is now expected to start meeting daily with the goal of producing results in the next two months, according to the person familiar with the plan.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/02/02/politics/justice-department-trump-weaponization-priority

The "we're weaponizing the DoJ by pretending the Democrats did it first" has never been more blatant.

[AZJonnie]

7. Nor has the M$M sanewashing

Wherein they're now just nonchalantly saying things like "Justice Department officials are expected to meet Monday to discuss how to reenergize probes that are considered a top priority for President Donald Trump" like this is just, you know, the normal course of operations for the DoJ, the POTUS tells them "what his priorities are" and then they do his bidding. No big, it's always been this way

Let me just say F*** YOU CNN

[Prairie Gates]

3. Whenever Trump/Miller shitcan somebody from one of his Revenge Rackets, something bad is coming

It's usually that even the completely cultish MAGA appointee can't bring themselves to do what Trump is asking them to do, or they recognize the long-term legal liability of following his orders. So off they go.

Ed Martin is a MAGA clown, so for him to say no means it's going to be very bad indeed.

[Griefbird]

4. As Trump's "pardon attorney"

Martin did a great job collecting millions for Trump from crooks, rapists, murderers and scoundrels.

[mdbl]

6. How hard is it to be Dump's pardon attorney

Finding the biggest white collar crooks first, then look for anyone else claiming to be a magat. The list is indefinite.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

8. Justice Dept. demotes Ed Martin, stripping Trump ally of most authority

Martin will no longer head the Justice Department task force that pushed investigations into Trump’s foes.

www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Justice Dept. demotes Ed Martin, stripping Trump ally of most authority
Martin will no longer head the Justice Department task force that pushed investigations into Trump’s foes.

— LunaLuvgood2020 (@lunaluvgood2020.bsky.social) 2026-02-03T07:03:12.805Z

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/02/02/ed-martin-demoted-justice-department

Top Justice Department officials have stripped Ed Martin of the bulk of his expansive responsibilities, leaving the staunch ally of President Donald Trump on the sidelines of many of the controversial investigations he has championed, according to two people familiar with the personnel move.

As a result of the changes, Martin will no longer chair the department’s Weaponization Working Group, which was tasked with reviewing special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecutions of Trump and other examples of what Trump sees as “prosecutorial abuse,” according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a personnel move that has not been made public. The group itself continues to meet. Martin also lost his title as an assistant attorney general.

Martin will continue to serve as the Justice Department’s pardon attorney but will no longer work at department headquarters. Instead, his office will be located in another Justice Department building in Northeast Washington, pulling him away from the attorney general and the most powerful figures in the department, according to a person familiar with the move. The pardon office is in that Northeast Washington building.

Justice Department officials informed Martin in early December of the demotion, and it went into effect at the end of 2025. It is unclear whether he will remain in the pardon attorney role and, if so, for how long.....

In November, The Washington Post reported that prosecutors had questioned a witness in the Schiff case about her contact with Martin and Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte.

The inquiries suggested that investigators were looking at whether Martin and Pulte used inappropriate tactics to launch probes of Schiff and others. The questions probed whether the two Trump officials divulged information about the Schiff investigation to people who were not authorized to be a part of it.