President Donald Trump has announced he will be withdrawing his nomination for a U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C. who recently warned a licensed medical marijuana dispensary in the District about violating federal law and suggested the possibility of prosecutorial action despite compliance with local policy.
While the president’s decision doesn’t appear to be connected to Ed Martin’s hostility toward cannabis policy in D.C.—and Trump gave ample praise to the now-rescinded nominee despite the prospective withdrawal—the shift could give advocates and stakeholders in the District a sense of relief about the prospects of further federal intervention in its local marijuana policies.
Trump said during an event in the Oval Office on Thursday that he still hopes to see Martin placed in another position with the Justice Department, “or whatever, in some capacity.”
“He was really outstanding. It was, to me, it was disappointing. I’ll be honest,” the president said. “I have to be straight. I was disappointed. A lot of people were disappointed, but that’s the way it works sometimes.”
Martin was embroiled in controversy for reasons unrelated to his actions against the D.C. cannabis dispensary, including his limited prosecutorial experience and defense of those who participated in the January 6 riots at the Capitol after Trump lost the 2020 election.
“We have somebody else that we’ll be announcing over the next two days [to serve as the U.S. prosecutor in D.C.] who’s going to be great,” Trump said.
Martin, for his part, recently gave mixed signals about his approach to prosecuting alleged violations of federal laws by licensed marijuana businesses—saying on the one hand that prohibition must be “abided by,” but also specifying that cannabis operators who are not in compliance with local laws are most at risk of enforcement action.
“Anybody who is selling marijuana better have a license and everything in order, otherwise we will pursue action against them,” he said at the time.
Hellbound and Down 