A "frustrated" Donald Trump was forced to throw in the towel on browbeating Republican senators into giving him assurances that a key appointment would survive a Senate hearing.
According to a report from the Washington Post, controversial lawyer Ed Martin did nothing to help his case to become the U.S. attorney for Washington D.C. with his "sloppy" responses to inquiries from Republicans who were furious that he left out a treasure trove of information about his past activities that would have given Democrats enough ammo to destroy him in a public hearing.
As the Post's Martine Powers and Spencer S. Hsu wrote, Martin's background, as it slowly came to light after a Washington Post expose, was too much for GOP lawmakers to "stomach" and opened the door for them to defy Trump –– something they rarely do.
According to the report, Martin sensed he was in trouble and set off on three "frantic" weeks of trying to forestall the inevitable and did himself no favors as he auditioned for the job while serving in an interim capacity.
"The result was a steady deterioration of his chances as Trump lost patience trying to persuade senators to support Martin," the Post is reporting before adding, "The key difference between Martin’s path and those of other polarizing Trump nominees — Pete Hegseth, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Kash Patel — was that Martin was already doing the job he was being vetted for, giving senators a chance to see his performance in action. Some didn’t like what they saw."
EXCLUSIVE: Trump accused of new grift that puts Qatari plane in shade
According to Jack Goldsmith, a former U.S. assistant attorney general under President George W. Bush, "Martin has wielded prosecutorial power recklessly and openly while serving in a temporary role."
With regard to Martin's willful choice to not disclose his past associations with white supremacists, the Post notes, "Senate Republicans, those individuals said, were genuinely surprised by both the unearthed past actions and Martin’s disregard for disclosure requirements. To them, it created the appearance that Martin was either dismissive of the Senate’s authority or that he was just plain sloppy."
Add to that, Martin's history of attacking Republican senators as "Republicans in Name Only" (RINOs) before his Trump nomination came back to haunt him.
"Then there were the public insults ... he had criticized multiple Senate Republicans, in some cases calling them RINOs (Republicans in Name Only). Among those he lambasted: Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, both Republicans from Texas and, crucially, both members of the Senate Judiciary Committee," the Post noted.
You can read more here.
