WASHINGTON \u2014 A conservative activist who has been on the board of a group supporting Jan. 6 defendants has been named interim U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., the position that has overseen the hundreds of cases brought in the Capitol siege investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ed Martin will be the interim chief, Trump Justice Department official Chad Gilmartin told NBC News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Martin was a prominent member of the “Stop the Steal” movement. In a speech at the Capitol on Jan. 5, 2021, he called on “die-hard true Americans” to work\u2002until their “last breath” to “stop the steal.”<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n On Jan. 6, Martin tweeted that he was “at the Capitol” and said the crowd was rowdy “but nothing out of hand,” and he then\u2002tweeted<\/a>, \u201cLike Mardi Gras in DC today: love, faith and joy.\u201d At the time of Martin’s tweet, rioters had breached the building and Ashli Babbitt had been shot; on the other side of the Capitol, a Jan. 6 rioter would soon drive a stun gun into an officer’s neck during the brutal battle at the lower west tunnel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Martin was on the board of the Patriot Freedom Project, which advocated for Jan. 6 defendants and held fundraisers at Donald Trump’s properties, including events where Trump spoke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n