President Donald Trump said Thursday at the Oval office that he will soon announce a new candidate for the United States prosecutor for the Columbia district, replacing his election, Ed Martin.
“He is an excellent person. He was not receiving the support of the people I thought,” Trump said during a White House event. “I am very disappointed with that. But I have so many different things that I am doing now with the trade. A person, I can only lift that little phone so many times in one day. But we have someone else that will be great.”
Trump said his administration “will have someone else to announce in the next two days who will be great.”
Trump took advantage of Martin in mid -February to remain permanently as a US prosecutor for the Columbia district, a role that requires Senate confirmation.
But Martin’s past, specifically his defense of the uproar of January 6 and the inflammatory rhetoric around the attack of the Capitol, plague his nomination.
Martin had to apologize in an interview for his past praise of a fuss of January 6 that had a long history of anti -Semitic statements and had infamously published photos of himself dressed as Adolf Hitler.
Ed Martin speaks in an event organized by the representative Matt Gaetz, in the Capitol in Washington, on June 13, 2023.
Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/AP
Senator Thom Tillis, a key republican vote on the Judicial Committee of the Senate, told ABC News this week that he would not support Martin and had transmitted his opposition to the White House.
The opposition of Tillis, which is in re -election next year, combined with that of all Democrats, could block Martin’s nomination to get out of the committee.
Trump stood up choosing Martin and called reduced support for him “disappointing”, but that, ultimately, the decision depended on the senators.
“They have to follow their hearts and have to follow their mind,” Trump said when asked about Martin’s uphill at the Oval office on Wednesday.
Martin has been interim interim interim of the United States since Trump was inaugurated on January 20. At that time, he moved to shoot or degrade career lawyers who investigated the January 6 attack against the United States Capitol and has sent letters to the main Democrats and other political opponents that threaten them with possible criminal investigations.
Martin’s term as an interim prosecutor of the United States, which can only last 120 days, will expire on May 20.
-ABC News’ Katherine Faulders, Alexander Mallin and Allison Pecorin contributed to this report.
