Earlier this week, the Trump administration attorney in charge of pardons, Ed Martin, decided for reasons that remain unclear to post a picture of himself with comedian Russell Brand.
Martin is no stranger to bad press. He’s notably controversial even in MAGA-land and had to be pulled from consideration from the DC US Attorney job after harassing government officials, Wikipedia, and random medical journals. Plus, using his interim DOJ role to free his own clients. Classy.
But Martin’s post is especially curious. Brand is currently facing sexual assault charges in the United Kingdom. But the conspiracy theorist’s legal woes also extend to this side of the pond; Brand is being sued in a New York court over allegations he assaulted a woman during the filming of Arthur.
So, why is Martin posting pics with Brand? Does he want to reinforce the association of the Trump administration with sexual assault allegations? Is he a super fan of Forgetting Sarah Marshall? Who can say. But the internet sure has THOUGHTS.
But for my $0.02, the most poignant burns come from DOJ alums. Stacey Young left the Department after 18 years in the early days of the Trump II reign, and is deeply concerned about the new direction of the DOJ, as exemplified by her post on LinkedIn.
Ed Martin, the failed D.C. U.S. Attorney nominee who now heads DOJ’s “Weaponization Working Group” (named during a round of “I know you are but what am I?”), posted this photo this morning. It features Martin standing gleefully next to nobody’s favorite comedian, Russell Brand, who’s out of prison on bail as he awaits trial on multiple charges of rape and sexual assault.
Martin shared this photo with the world at a time when DOJ is canceling hundreds millions of dollars in grants that fund programs serving crime victims, including sexual assault survivors; when the Office on Violence Against Women removed all open funding opportunities from its website; when FBI agents are being pulled away from their normal work, such as investigating sexual predators, so they can do ICE’s job; and when the department, in promoting conspiracy theories surrounding Jeffrey Epstein, has left his sexual assault victims as an afterthought.
Ed Martin’s post encapsulates the callousness, hypocrisy, and misogyny oozing from DOJ’s current leadership.
But Young wasn’t the only DOJ alum to sound off. Former Justice Department pardon attorney Elizabeth G. Oyer, who said she was fired after refusing to let Trump’s friend Mel Gibson get his pew-pew back, commented on Young’s LinkedIn post. “It’s absolutely blowing my mind that this person sits in what was once my office and occupies my former job as Pardon Attorney!”
That sentiment hits hard. 2025 is filled with all sorts of horrors.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @[email protected].