AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades, File
Ed Martin, the current interim U.S. Attorney for D.C. and President Donald Trump’s nominee for the role, apologized on Thursday for his past praise of a notorious white supremacist. Martin is currently awaiting his confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate.
Martin spoke to The Forward’s Jacob Kornbluh regarding his past statements about Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, who Kornbluh notes has been described by the Justice Department as a “Nazi sympathizer and white supremacist.” Martin very publicly praised Hale-Cusanelli during an awards ceremony last year at Trump’s golf club in New Jersey.
“I denounce everything about what that guy said, everything about the way he talked, and all as I’ve now seen it,” Martin told The Forward. “At the time, I didn’t know it.”
Hale-Cusanelli, who took part in the January 6 Capitol riot, made headlines for receiving the award at Trump’s club last September. Hale-Cusanelli’s criminal indictment related to his role in the Capitol riot alleged he told coworkers that “Hitler should have finished the job” and “babies born with any deformities or disabilities should be shot in the forehead.” He has also been seen in photos with Adolf Hitler’s style of mustache and declared there is a “Hasidic Jewish invasion” of New Jersey.
Martin, himself, has long been a controversial figure and was an organizer of the “Stop the Steal” movement, which claimed the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. Earlier in the week, a group of lawyers, a former judge, a former member of Congress, and prosecutors sent a letter to the D.C. Court of Appeals urging an investigation into Martin’s conduct.
“Mr. Martin’s client is not President Trump; it is the United States,” they wrote in the letter, adding, “His assertion otherwise adds further evidence that his announced investigations are politically motivated.”
Martin’s apology and claim that he was unaware of Hale-Cusanelli’s views were met with skepticism from some in the media. Politico’s Kyle Cheney reacted to the news, writing, “It is unfathomable that Martin was unaware of the widely publicized allegations about Hale-Cusanelli, who he has interviewed for hours and whose case made national headlines for years after Jan.6.”
NPR’s Tom Dreisbach added, “Interim U.S Attorney @EagleEdMartin tells the Forward that he is sorry for praising Jan. 6 defendant Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, who is known for his extreme antisemitic and racist comments. Martin claims he was unaware of Hale-Cusanelli’s history, which is quite a stretch.”
Below are some additional reactions:
__
