Hamza Adam 
Interim U.S. Attorney for D.C. Edward Martin has apologized after praising a Nazi sympathizer and white supremacist.
In an interview with Forward, which has a Jewish audience, Martin said he had not known about the background of Timothy Hale-Cusanelli when he introduced him during an awards ceremony at President Donald Trump’s golf club in Bedminster last year. At the time, Martin called Hale-Cusanelli “extraordinary.”
The event was sponsored by Patriot Freedom Project, a group founded by Jan. 6 defendants.
“I’m sorry,” Martin told Forward. “I denounce everything about what that guy said, everything about the way he talked, and all as I’ve now seen it… At the time, I didn’t know it.”
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Democrats called for a Senate hearing on Martin after Trump nominated him as U.S. Attorney for D.C. The common practice in the Senate is to forgo hearings for U.S. attorneys.
For his part, Martin vowed to “think and talk more” about his judgment, “and it’s going to help me learn to be more careful and smart.”
He said he intended to address the issue publicly and with Senate staffers.
“It is well-documented that Ed Martin is a Donald Trump loyalist who has embraced a Nazi sympathizer,” Sen Dick Durbin (D-IL) said in a statement, “and attacked law enforcement who kept lawmakers and staff safe during the January 6 insurrection.”
“The 150 undisclosed appearances Mr. Martin has made on Russian state media as recently as April of last year—as Russia was actively bombing Ukraine—raises further serious questions about whether he has the temperament to serve as U.S. Attorney, concerns that have been underlined by his misconduct as Interim U.S. Attorney,” he added.