Republican threatens to sink confirmation vote for key Trump DOJ appointee

30 April

U.S. President Donald Trump holds an 'Investing in America' event in the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 30, 2025. REUTERS/Leah Millis

The Republican activist President Donald Trump has nominated to be the Department of Justice's top prosecutor may now be in more danger of losing his confirmation vote than previously believed, after a statement from one Senate Republican.

Punchbowl News' Andrew Desiderio reported Wednesday that Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) — who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee — has now said he's "not comfortable" voting for the confirmation of interim U.S. Attorney Ed Martin due to his comments about the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. This comes after Martin has faced increased public scrutiny over his career championing far-right causes.

Tillis' comment comes after CNN reported earlier this week that Martin referred to an alleged Nazi sympathizer who appeared on his podcast as a "great friend." Martin hosted Timothy Hale-Cusanelli on his podcast five times last year, and CNN noted that those interviews took place well after Hale-Cusanelli's views were publicly documented in court records.

According to a Monday report by CNN's Andrew Kaczynski, Em Steck and Annie Grayer, Hale-Cusanelli was found to have regularly made racist and antisemitic statements following an internal Navy investigation, including one conversation in which he allegedly quipped: "Hitler should have finished the job." Hale-Cusanelli was sentenced to four years in prison in 2022 for breaching the U.S. Capitol on January 6, but was freed after Trump pardoned virtually all January 6 participants on his first day in office.

"Tim Hale is an extraordinary guy. I’ve gotten to know him really well. I’d say we’re friends over the last few years, and especially in the last month since he’s been out of jail," Martin said of Hale-Cusanelli in July of 2024.

As interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Martin is currently the top prosecutor for the Trump administration in Washington D.C. He was previously fired from CNN as a commentator, and blamed his dismissal on unnamed "crazy Black ladies" at the network.

Martin only needs 51 votes in the U.S. Senate (where Republicans hold a 53-seat majority) to be confirmed, but may not even make it through the Judiciary Committee if Tillis opposes him along with all 9 Democratic members. If just one more of the 11-member Republican majority on the committee votes against advancing Martin's confirmation to the full Senate, Trump would have no choice but to nominate someone else.

From Your Site Articles