Ed Martin has been removed from his role as the head of Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Weaponization Working Group, multiple sources told CBS News.
Martin, a close ally to President Trump, was tapped to lead the working group after he failed to garner enough support from the Republican-controlled Senate to win confirmation as D.C.’s U.S. attorney, largely due to his history of political advocacy in supporting the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Martin was also named pardon attorney — an advisory role to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche that entails reviewing clemency applications and making recommendations. Later, he was separately deputized as a special assistant U.S. attorney who was tasked with helping to investigate mortgage fraud cases involving public officials.
He remains on staff as pardon attorney, according to a Justice Department spokesperson. CNN first reported Martin’s removal as weaponization czar.
Behind the scenes, Martin was involved in the mortgage-related investigations into Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California, New York Attorney General Letitica James and Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook, sources familiar told CBS News, though his exact role remains unclear.
All of those probes were initially referred to the Justice Department by William Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and a staunch Trump ally.
CBS News could not immediately determine why Martin is no longer involved with the Weaponization Working Group. One source told CBS he was informed of the change in December, and it took effect in early January.
Martin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Martin has at times clashed with officials inside Blanche’s office since he started working there last year over his lack of productivity on the working group and his controversial social media posts, several sources told CBS News.
In late 2025, the Justice Department began scrutinizing Martin and Pulte’s role in the Schiff investigation, after prosecutors issued a grand jury subpoena to a key witness in the case.
The witness, California politician and real estate agent Christine Bash, was asked to provide information about her communications with Martin, Pulte and anyone who might have been acting at their behest — including Robert Bowes and Scott Strauss, according to a copy of the subpoena seen by CBS News.
Bondi in mid-December denied in a post on X that Pulte was being investigated, calling it “Fake news.”
Bowes previously served in the first Trump administration at the Department of Housing and Urban Development and also held positions at Chase Manhattan Bank and Fannie Mae.
One source briefed on the matter told CBS News that prosecutors were trying to ascertain whether Pulte and Martin had improperly deputized Bowes and Strauss to assist on the Schiff investigation.
CBS News could not determine the status of that investigation. Schiff, who has denied any wrongdoing, has not been charged in the case.
Martin’s brief tenure as interim U.S. attorney in Washington was fraught with controversy. Career lawyers blocked him from opening a criminal investigation into Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer over political comments he made in 2020 in which Schumer said that several conservative Supreme Court justices would “pay the price” over actions that scaled back abortion rights.
He also drew scrutiny for a series of threatening letters he sent to a variety of Mr. Trump’s political enemies, for his omission on Senate committee paperwork about his prior paid appearances on Russia state-owned media outlets and his prior public praise for a Nazi sympathizer who was prosecuted for storming the Capitol.
Shortly before Martin started his new role as the head of the Weaponization Working Group, he disclosed to lawyers in the U.S. Attorney’s office that he was facing a professional ethics investigation by the D.C. Office of Disciplinary Counsel. CBS News could not immediately determine the status of that probe.
The weaponization working group was tasked with reviewing a variety of cases that were brought during former President Joe Biden’s tenure, including the Jan. 6 prosecutions, the FACE Act prosecutions against people who tried to obstruct abortion clinics and alleged retaliation against whistleblowers.
Although the group is required to issue reports to the White House, little has been accomplished since it formed last year, several sources say.
