Letter Opposing the Confirmation of Ed Martin as U.S. Attorney
WASHINGTON – Today, the Society for the Rule of Law Institute sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee opposing the confirmation of interim U.S. Attorney Ed Martin as the permanent U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.
The letter reads, in part:
The Society for the Rule of Law Institute is a national organization dedicated to the defense of the rule of law, the Constitution, and American democracy from a traditionally conservative point of view. I write to express the Institute’s strongest opposition to Mr. Edward R. Martin, Jr.’s confirmation as U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.
The Senate’s confirmation process must ensure that any presidential nominee possesses the character and competence necessary to perform the duties of office to which he or she has been nominated. The Judiciary Committee has a particularly important role, as it considers nominees who apply the law as judges and prosecutors. Confirmation of individuals ill-suited for these roles would pose a dire threat to the Constitution, the rule of law, and the rights and liberties of all Americans …
Mr. Martin has long demonstrated his fundamental unfitness for a role of this nature through a career of extreme, reckless rhetoric and ideological advocacy.
Executive Director Gregg Nunziata emphasized that Mr. Martin’s record warrants scrutiny beyond the typical process for U.S. Attorney nominations:
As a former Chief Nominations Counsel for Senate Judiciary Republicans during the George W. Bush administration, I know very well that the Committee does not typically hold hearings on U.S. Attorney nominees. However, Mr. Martin is no typical nominee, as other conservatives have noted. Confirmation hearings for U.S. Attorney nominees have little precedent because presidents of both parties have nominated men and women with the records and character necessary to faithfully discharge the immense powers of this office. On rare occasions when presidents misjudged a candidate, or details later emerged that demonstrated the unfitness of a nominee, Senate Republicans and Democrats have united, and these nominations have not advanced. The same result should occur here.
For more information or to be connected with spokespeople regarding the letter, please contact [email protected].
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