Ed Martin Jr., a top Trump official with the Department of Justice, posted a photo of himself and a colleague to social media Thursday, then quickly deleted it — but not before NPR’s Tom Dreisbach pointed out who the colleague seemed to be.
“It appears @EdMartinDOJ has deleted this post. Here’s a screenshot of what he posted earlier today,” Dreisbach wrote.
Dreisbach continued, “Ed Martin posts a photo of himself with a man who appears to be Jared Wise, a former Jan. 6 defendant who was caught on video urging rioters to ‘kill’ cops. Trump ordered the case against Wise dismissed before the jury reached a verdict, and Wise now works at DOJ.”
Dreisbach included a link to Martin’s original post to show that it no longer exists. Martin gave no reason for deleting the post.
In a story earlier this month, NPR published video of police bodycam displayed at Wise’s trial showing him “berating police officers” by calling them “Nazi” and “Gestapo,” and repeatedly yelling ‘kill ’em!’ as Capitol Police officers were attacked.
Wise was not convicted of any crimes related to the Capitol riot — as Trump, during Wise’s trial, put an end to all Jan. 6 prosecutions. Wise is now a senior adviser for the Department of Justice.
When asked about the video, a DOJ spokesperson told NPR in a statement, “Jared Wise is a valued member of the Justice Department and we appreciate his contributions to our team.”
Martin was an organizer of the “Stop the Steal” movement and defended at least three defendants charged in relation to the Capriol riots.
President Donald Trump withdrew Martin’s nomination to be Washington, D.C.’s top federal prosecutor after receiving pushback from congressional Republicans. He currently holds several roles within the Trump administration, including U.S. pardon attorney, director of the Weaponization Working Group, associate deputy attorney general, and special attorney for mortgage fraud.
