North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said that he will not support the nomination of Ed Martin, President Donald Trump’s pick, to be the U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., creating a massive hole in the nomination.
The senator said he met with the nominee to alleviate some concerns, but those concerns still lingered on Tuesday when he spoke to CNN reporter Manu Raju.
“At this point, I’ve indicated to the White House I wouldn’t support his nomination,” the senator said.
“Most of my concerns relate to Jan. 6,” he said. “I think that anybody that breached the perimeter should have been imprisoned for some period of time, whether it’s 30 days or three years is debatable but I have no tolerance for anybody who entered the building on Jan. 6 and that’s probably where most of the friction was.”
The senator indicated that Martin believed that some of the people who were prosecuted for crimes related to January 6, 2021 were overcharged.
“We have to be very, very clear that what happened on Jan. 6 was wrong,” the senator said.
“It was not prompted or created by other people to put those people in trouble. They made a stupid decision and they disgraced the United States by absolutely destroying the Capitol,” he said.
“Mr. Martin did a good job of explaining the one area that I think he’s probably right, that there were some people that were over-prosecuted, but there were some, 200 or 300 of them that should have never gotten a pardon,” he said. “If Mr. Martin were being put forth as a U.S. attorney for any district except the district where Jan. 6 happened, the protest happened, I’d probably support him, but not in this district.”
Democrat Sen. Dick Durbin, the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that the Tillis “no” vote effectively ends any chance Martin had to be confirmed.
Republicans hold a 12 – 10 edge on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and if all Democrats vote “no,” as is anticipated, the vote would be deadlocked at 11 – 11, which would mean the nomination would not proceed.
“The decision was made last night not to move forward with the [background investigation],” Sen. Durbin said.
“In strict legal terms, he’s still interim [U.S. attorney] until the end of May, the 20th or 21st, and the district court judge then has the option to fill the interim vacancy when he’s finished,” the senator said.
“The writing’s on the wall, he has some problems in his own ranks,” he said.
President Trump said on Truth Social that Martin’s confirmation was essential.
“According to many but in, particular, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., his approval is IMPERATIVE in terms of doing all that has to be done to SAVE LIVES and to, MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN. This is a passion for Ed, more so than for almost anyone that I have seen,” the president said.
“We are going to take our Country BACK and FAST. Ed Martin will be a big player in doing so and, I hope, that the Republican Senators will make a commitment to his approval,” he said.
What is worse for President Trump and Republicans is that, if a nominee is not confirmed by May 20, which may be impossible if the nominee is not Martin, the person who would pick the U.S Attorney for D.C. would be Judge James Boasberg.
Judge Boasberg has been a thorn in the side of the president, recently finding probable cause that the administration could be in contempt of court when it did not have two planes carrying alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador turn around on his orders in March.
But Tillis’ office said that it believed Attorney General Pam Bondi would pick Martin’s replacement if his nomination was not successful, Fox News reported.
“Our understanding is that if the Senate does not confirm a U.S. attorney before an acting U.S. attorney’s term expires, the attorney general can still pick the next acting replacement as long as it is done before the original appointment expires under 28 USC 546,” a spokesperson for the senator said to Fox News.
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