Republicans rebel against 'braindead' Trump official's 'terribly dangerous' fighting words

Ed Martin, the former Trump Justice Department official who served as interim U.S. Attorney for Washington and later led DOJ's "weaponization" working group before being removed from that role earlier this year, posted a message over the weekend that drew sharp pushback from Republicans and journalists alike.

"They killed Charlie. They shot President Trump. They put hundreds into the DC gulag by lying," Martin wrote on X. "It's not a battle of ideas — they want us dead. Know the fight we are in."

Gregg Nunziata, a Republican lawyer and former chief counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee, was direct in his response.

"Whether this is deluded or malicious, it's terribly dangerous that people who practically long for political violence serve in positions of authority." His comment was reposted by Norman Ornstein, the longtime congressional scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.

Investigative journalist Scott Stedman kept it shorter: "Braindead Ed."

Conservative author John A. Daly was equally terse: "This is stupid."

Not everyone was critical. Actor Randy Quaid, a prominent MAGA figure, replied with a target emoji. Joshua Reid of Redpills.tv echoed Martin's closing line approvingly: "Know the fight we are in."

Martin's post fits a pattern of his DOJ career. During his tenure at DOJ, he oversaw reviews of prosecutions of January 6 defendants and the department's broader effort to investigate what it called the "weaponization" of government against Trump allies. He was stripped of that role this year but remained at the department in an advisory capacity, according to reports.