
Ed Martin during the 2010 campaign. Â
As in nature, matter in politics is neither created nor destroyed: It just comes back as interim U.S. attorney in Washington.
None other than Ed Martin, the former perennial candidate in Missouri politics, has resurfaced as the target of complaints from Democrats in the Beltway.
Last week, a group of Democratic legislators called for an investigation into Martin and the former St. Louisan’s actions regarding a suspect in the Jan. 6 unrest after the election of Joe Biden.
, Democrats are complaining about Martin’s representation of Joseph Padilla, who was among the 1,500 Jan. 6 suspects pardoned by Trump.
The complaint is that Martin, in his new U.S. attorney role, moved to dismiss the case against Padilla, even though Martin did not withdraw as Padilla’s personal attorney until early February.
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“In other words, Mr. Martin was the attorney of record for both parties in one case,â€Â wrote U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman, D-New York. “Such a brazen conflict of interest should be a case study for law school ethics courses.â€
Add to that, Martin also fired attorneys in his D.C. office who worked on the Jan. 6 investigations.
But apparently, no congressional call for a probe into his actions will deter Martin from his duties.
In a letter to Elon Musk’s DOGE cost-cutting committee, Martin has threatened  against anyone who “impedes†or “threatens†the group’s work,
In standard Martin flair, the former south St. Louisan said, “We will investigate them and we will chase them to the end of the Earth to hold them accountable.â€
And news comes Monday that Trump has nominated Martin to become the permanent U.S. attorney in Washington.
Martin broke onto the state political scene in 2005, when he served as chief of staff to Gov. Matt Blunt.
He also has served as chair of the St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners, and then was head of the state Republican Party.
When it comes to elected office, Martin has been less successful. He lost a bid to become Missouri attorney general and twice failed to be elected to the U.S. House.
And his electoral defeats have not just been limited to Missouri. After relocating to the Washington area, Martin lost a 2019 bid to become a county supervisor in Fairfax County, Virginia.
But now that he is a U.S. attorney, Martin has resigned his post as head of , a conservative political group.
The group announced that Kurt Prenzler, former chair of the Madison County Board, has been named as its new executive director.
Post-Dispatch photographers capture hundreds of thousands of images each year. Take a look at some from January 2025. Video edited by Jenna Jones.