At today's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) raised serious concerns about Ed Martin, nominee for U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C.
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00:00Mr. Chairman, do you want to address the nomination of Ed Martin in your opening remarks?
00:07I'll have a comment on that after you get done.
00:10Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
00:13I appreciate this time, my understanding, and there will be an official announcement by the chairman this morning.
00:20It's my understanding that we are not going to move forward on the Martin nomination.
00:26I had promised to vote, to ask for a vote in this committee today, but on the basis of the chairman's, I hope my clear understanding, I'm not going to make that move.
00:41But I do want to tell you a lot has happened since we last met here relating to the nomination of Ed Martin.
00:47The chairman submitted questions, I submitted questions, and we received responses in some instances by Mr. Martin.
00:58What we found is virtually unprecedented in the history of the committee that I've served on now for over 20 years.
01:06Last Friday, we received responses from Mr. Martin to these questions, and it raised even more questions.
01:12Mr. Martin made a number of false statements and contradictory statements that were easily disproven by material he himself disclosed in the Senate Judiciary Questionnaire.
01:23And it wasn't just to my questions, it's to Chairman Grassley's questions as well.
01:28First, there is Mr. Martin's relationship with Timothy Hale Cusinelli, a January 6 rioter and a Nazi sympathizer.
01:38In response to Chairman Grassley's question to Mr. Martin, he said, quote, I am not close with Mr. Hale Cusinelli, and I otherwise do not have close, consistent interactions with him, end of quote.
01:54That answer is contradicted by Mr. Martin's own words and actions.
01:59Mr. Martin interviewed Mr. Hale Cusinelli at least five times in the year 2024 alone.
02:06In one of those interviews, Mr. Martin said, and I quote, Tim Hale is an extraordinary guy.
02:13I've gotten to know him real well.
02:15I'd say we're friends over the last few years, and especially in the last months since he's been out of jail, end of quote.
02:23Mr. Martin told Chairman Grassley, and I quote, I was not aware of Mr. Hale Cusinelli's comments and views until after Mr. Martin presented Mr. Hale Cusinelli with an award last July.
02:36Mr. Martin told me that he hadn't seen photos of Mr. Hale Cusinelli with a Hitler mustache prior to that award ceremony in response to a question I asked.
02:46As a reminder, this is the award ceremony where Ed Martin called Mr. Hale Cusinelli, and I quote, an extraordinary man, an extraordinary leader.
02:57Again, Mr. Martin's own words and disclosures he provided to the committee contradict what he just said.
03:05Just weeks before presenting this award ceremony, Mr. Martin excused Hale Cusinelli dressing up like Hitler as, quote, goofing around, and claimed he was being smeared and slurred by allegations of anti-Semitism.
03:21Mr. Martin himself has made a number of offensive comments.
03:27In 2022, he said, quote, President Joe Biden is a Hitler, and I'm not joking when I say that.
03:34On his podcast, Mr. Martin said, and I quote, you show me a Jewish American who feels good about the Democratic administration, and I'll show you someone who's not really Jewish, end of quote.
03:47In a letter sent to the committee earlier this week, 11 national Jewish organizations, representing more than 1 million members across the United States, raised concern about Mr. Martin's nomination.
04:02They wrote that his associations are, quote, not only dangerous, they reveal a pattern of behavior that is incompatible with the responsibilities of a U.S. attorney, a role meant to uphold justice and protect all communities, including Jewish Americans, from hate and extremism.
04:20I've never questioned a member of this committee, nor will I, in terms of this issue on anti-Semitism, and I know the chairman's position, because the first hearing we had under your new chairmanship was on the issue of anti-Semitism.
04:35You made it clear that you wanted to focus on that hate crime, and I'm glad you did.
04:40Mr. Martin also wrote to Chairman Grassley, and I quote, I do not condone violence against police, and I respect and revere our policemen and policewomen around the nation.
04:51Again, Mr. Martin's own words contradict that assertion.
04:55In August of 2023, he excused violence by January 6th rioters, saying, quote,
05:01we have to have less judgment on somebody who hits a cop.
05:07Let me repeat that.
05:10Mr. Martin's own words in August of 2023, we have to have less judgment on somebody who hits a cop.
05:18He continued, quote, I've seen people hit a cop, and that doesn't make it the end of the world.
05:25He called January 6th rioters, including those who beat the police officers in the Capitol, quote, patriots and victims.
05:34He called prosecutors who handle the January 6th cases despicable and terrorist.
05:42I'm also alarmed by the vast number of items Mr. Martin omitted from his questionnaire.
05:47Of approximately 1,900 writings or appearances he was required to disclose, he initially omitted at least 400 items, over 20% of the total.
06:02Now, people make omissions.
06:03In fact, we've had some in the past.
06:05We've had nominees for U.S. attorney who've made four omissions, three omissions, one omissions.
06:14And in that situation, we have a situation with Mr. Martin where 400 items were omitted.
06:22Since this committee met last week, a whole body of evidence has emerged on Mr. Martin.
06:27The Washington Post uncovered nearly 150 appearances by Mr. Martin on RT and Sputnik, networks funded and directed by the Russian government,
06:41all undisclosed by Mr. Martin in response to this questionnaire.
06:45Many occurred as recently as last year, which calls into question Mr. Martin's claim that, quote,
06:52I've done my best to identify all responsive material.
06:56Just this week, my staff uncovered an event Mr. Martin should have disclosed.
07:02Here's what he said at the event.
07:04You're not a racist if you don't like Mexicans.
07:09I'm appalled that anyone would make a statement like that and aspire to be the top U.S. attorney in the United States of America for this administration.
07:18Mr. Chairman, thank you for taking my concerns with this nomination seriously.
07:22This man, Mr. Martin, has not taken our process and questionnaire seriously.
07:29His record makes it clear that he doesn't have the temperament or judgment for this job.
07:34I'll look forward to debating it the next time we meet.
07:37Thank you, Mr. Martin, thank you, Mr. Martin.
07:38Thank you, Mr. Martin.
07:39Thank you, Mr. Martin.
07:40Thank you, Mr. Martin.
07:41Thank you, Mr. Martin.
07:42Thank you, Mr. Martin.
07:43Thank you, Mr. Martin.
07:44Thank you, Mr. Martin.
07:45Thank you, Mr. Martin.
07:46Thank you, Mr. Martin.
07:47Thank you, Mr. Martin.
07:48Thank you, Mr. Martin.
07:49Thank you, Mr. Martin.
07:50Thank you, Mr. Martin.
07:51Thank you, Mr. Martin.
07:52Thank you, Mr. Martin.
07:53Thank you, Mr. Martin.
07:54Thank you, Mr. Martin.
07:55Thank you, Mr. Martin.
07:56Thank you, Mr. Martin.
07:57Thank you, Mr. Martin.