Trump’s Pardon Attorney Is Leaving the DOJ to Fight the Election Legal Wars – It’s Exactly the Right Move

The move to election legal work outside the administration is strategically significant. The 2026 midterms are 77 days away. Democrats are already running 22 state attorneys general in a coordinated legal war machine — the “Project for Federal Accountability” coordination agreement that was signed before Trump even won the election. Courts across the country are being used as a second front in the political battle, with left-wing activist judges issuing injunctions, stays, and blockades on every Trump and Republican priority from the SAVE America Act to the White House Ballroom.

Having someone of Martin’s caliber — who knows the DOJ’s own operations from the inside, who ran the Weaponization Working Group, and who understands how to fight legal battles in an adversarial environment — working on election legal defense and integrity litigation is exactly what this moment requires.

The wave of personnel transitions — Karoline Leavitt to outside advisor, James Braid departing legislative affairs at end of September, Martin to election legal work — reflects a deliberate shift as the administration reconfigures for the midterm sprint. Some of the best people go where they’re needed most.

With 77 days until November and Democratic lawyers already positioned in courtrooms across the country, Ed Martin is going where the fight is. “Fight Fight Fight.” He means it.