Tag Archives: Raskin

Goodbye and Good Riddance to Pardon Attorney… But Nothing’s Likely to Change – Update for August 24, 2026

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We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.

PARDON ATTORNEY ED MARTIN RESIGNS

US Pardon Attorney Ed Martin, a staunch ally of President Donald Trump who clashed with other officials and senators over his undisciplined handling of investigations, is leaving his post, President Trump said in a social media post last Friday.

“The departure caps Martin’s short, contentious career at the Justice Department, where he served as the interim US attorney for DC. and, most recently, as the department’s top pardon attorney,” the Washington Post reported on Saturday, helping to determine who should receive pardons from the president.

Martin, who represented several January 6th rioters before Trump’s second term, was originally appointed by Trump to serve as US Attorney for the District of Columbia, one of the highest-profile US Attorney positions in the government.

But Trump withdrew the nomination after Martin’s performance as interim US Attorney was so contentious that he lacked enough support even in a Republican-led Senate to win confirmation.

 Trump then named Martin to the dual position of head of the DOJ’s so-called Weaponization Working Group and US Pardon Attorney. He replaced Pardon Attorney Elizabeth Oyer, who was fired because she refused to support restoration of gun rights to actor Mel Gibson, disqualified under 18 USC 922(g)(9) as a result of a 2011 domestic violence misdemeanor conviction.

But Martin was too much even for the Trump-selected DOJ top bosses, who were “put off by Martin’s aggressive and unorthodox style,” according to the Post. Last February, Martin was fired from his Weaponization Work Group role and stripped of most of his DOJ responsibilities. He was exiled to the Northeast Washington Pardon Office, some distance from Justice Department headquarters.

At the time, rumors suggested he would resign as Pardon Attorney within a few weeks, but it took six months instead.

Under Martin, Trump pardoned a number of people who donated to his campaign or affiliated entities, were allies, or otherwise had been convicted of offenses that Trump saw as innocuous (such as tampering with diesel engine emissions). At the same time, predictions of widespread general commutations – such as the rumored 250 pardons on the nation’s 250th birthday – never materialized.

A report issued last Friday by Rep Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, accused Trump of running a “sprawling pay-to-play clemency industry that has emerged around [the] White House.” The report alleges that Trump has sidelined the traditional DOJ Office of Pardon Attorney process and replaced it with a “pay-to-play” system in which wealthy applicants use political contributions, Trump family business ties, and well-connected Trump insiders to obtain presidential pardons and commutations.

Raskin said:

Donald Trump has taken one of the most solemn constitutional powers of the presidency and turned it into a bustling marketplace for insider political influence and unjust personal enrichment. ‘Pardons, Inc.’ has a simple business model: wealthy white-collar criminals and drug traffickers hire Trump insiders, pour money into his political operation or cultivate his family’s financial interests, and suddenly the doors of the White House swing open for a pardon, commutation, and forgiveness of all fines and financial restitution owed. Meanwhile, thousands of imprisoned Americans without elite MAGA connections who show genuine contrition, have paid restitution to their victims and are seeking mercy sit endlessly in limbo.

Goodbye, Ed. We baked you a cake...

Not that this is surprising. Martin has always described his philosophy as ‘No MAGA left behind’ and has used his office to privilege clemency applications from the Oath Keepers, the Proud Boys, and the two men convicted of plotting to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer,” the report stated.

The OPA traditionally has been opaque, painfully slow, and very conservative in recommending prisoners for clemency. But at least it was honest. Don’t expect any replacement Pardon Attorney for Ed Martin to return the office to a meaningful or forthright role in the pardon or commutation process.

Washington Post, Ed Martin leaving Justice Dept. after tumultuous tenure that alienated colleagues (August 21, 2026)

The Hill, Controversial attorney Ed Martin leaving Justice Department (August 21, 2026)

House Judiciary Committee Democrats, Pardons, Inc.: How Trump and His Clemency-for-Cash Racket Let White-Collar Criminals and International Drug Dealers Walk Free and Dodge Billions in Restitution Owed to Their Victims (August 21, 2026)

~ Thomas L. Root

Amici Line Up to Support First Step Habeas Right – Update for August 18, 2026

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We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.

AMICUS BRIEFS SUPPORT USING HABEAS CORPUS TO ENFORCE FIRST STEP

In a post back when the summer lay ahead of us with such promise, I reported that the Supreme Court had granted review in Maxwell v. Thomas. Maxwell seeks to resolve a circuit split over whether an inmate can bring a 28 USC § 2241 habeas corpus claim against the Bureau of Prisons when the First Step Act time credits being denied to him would only give him more time in halfway house or home confinement.

Because some circuits view halfway house and home confinement as a mere change in prison designation while the prisoner remains in the custody of the BOP, they have held that habeas corpus – which they hold must seek release from BOP custody altogether – is unavailable to prisoners who are denied FSA credits to which they are otherwise entitled under 18 USC  § 3632 or denied use of those credits for halfway house or home confinement otherwise allowed under 18 USC § 3624(g)(2). The Supreme Court has granted review in Maxwell to resolve the split among the circuits.

Last week, a blizzard of amicus briefs, from everyone from the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys to members of Congress, were filed in Maxwell supporting use of habeas corpus to enforce the right to FSA credits.

Rep Jamie Raskin (D-MD) – the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee – filed a brief supporting use of habeas corpus to enforce the right to FSA credits. Raskin told the Court that Government Accountability Office “audits have unfortunately documented BOP’s systemic failures to properly apply time credits for prisoners participating in recidivism reduction programs and to track prisoners’ eligibility for transfer to pre-release custody. These failures do not merely inconvenience individual prisoners; they undercut the heart of the incentives-based programs that Congress believed would promote the rehabilitation of prisoners and reduce recidivism. Habeas relief is therefore an important backstop to enforce the system of incentives and rewards on which the success of the First Step Act’s programs hinges. A decision by this Court recognizing the availability of habeas to enforce prerelease transfer would further Congress’s historic, bipartisan objectives in the First Step Act of 2018: promoting rehabilitation and reducing recidivism.”

On the Senate side, Minority Leader Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Judiciary Committee member Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) argued in an amicus brief that the Supreme Court had previously observed, “Congress clearly knows how to use mandatory language when it so desires [and] [t]he First Step Act’s system of earned time credits for federal prisoners is a perfect example. Congress eliminated the Bureau’s discretion about awarding earned time credits when statutory prerequisites have been met. The text and structure of the statute make this abundantly clear.”

Given that FSA passage was President Trump’s initiative and that it passed with a bipartisan supermajority, the amicus briefs explaining Congress’s intent and disappointment with BOP performance thus far are a helpful addition to the record.

Maxwell v. Thomas, Case No 25-5930 (cert granted June 1, 2026)

Amicus Brief of Rep, Jamie Raskin, Case No 25-5930 (August 12, 2026)

Amicus Brief of Senators Richard Durbin and Cory Booker, Case No 25-5930 (August 12, 2026)

~ Thomas L. Root