‘A great friend’: Audio undercuts Trump US attorney nominee’s disavowal of alleged Nazi sympathizer

Ed Martin, the Trump-appointed interim US Attorney for the District of Columbia and nominee to serve in the role permanently, says he now regrets praising a Capitol rioter who is an alleged Nazi sympathizer — claiming he was unaware of the man’s extremist views at the time. “I denounce everything about what that guy said, everything about the way he talked, and all as I’ve now seen it,” Martin told The Forward, a Jewish publication, last week after previously calling the rioter, Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, “extraordinary.” “At the time, I didn’t know it,” Martin said. But a CNN KFile review of Martin’s podcast shows he repeatedly praised Hale-Cusanelli in interviews with him, including two where they openly discussed — and dismissed — allegations that Hale held pro-Nazi views, including an infamous photo of Hale posing with a Hitler-style mustache. Martin hosted Hale-Cusanelli at least five times on podcasts in 2024, including his show “The Pro-America Report with Ed Martin.” The interviews were conducted well after Hale’s Nazi sympathies had been widely reported in media coverage and documented in court records. In the January 2024 episode, Martin and Hale-Cusanelli discussed how media coverage before his trial portrayed him as a far-right extremist and “the reincarnation of the Führer.” Martin described the coverage as “character assassination” and a “caricature” of Hale. In the July 2024 episode, Martin explicitly referenced the infamous Hitler-style mustache photo and framed it as an attempt to smear Hale and other Trump supporters as antisemitic. “Again, you know, not your best moment,” Martin told Hale-Cusanelli on air in July 2024, referring to the photo. “But not illegal.” Martin repeatedly referred to Hale-Cusanelli as “a great friend” and “an amazing guy,” and said they had grown close after his release from prison. Martin’s disavowal of Hale-Cusanelli’s comments comes as he faces a tough confirmation battle to become DC’s top prosecutor as Democrats try to stall the process and force Republicans to hold a hearing on his nomination. A bipartisan group of senators have submitted over 500 questions for Martin to respond to, Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley said at a committee meeting earlier this month. Among his own questions, Grassley asked Martin about Hale-Cusanelli, a source familiar with the process told CNN. Martin’s status as acting US attorney expires on May 20, according to federal law, setting up a tight timeline for him to get confirmed by the Senate. A spokesperson for Martin declined to comment to CNN beyond the public apology when asked if Martin had discussed his ties to Hale-Cusanelli with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The spokesperson also pointed to Martin telling The Forward that he was “unaware of the full scope of his repulsive behavior,” which, Martin said, is “clearly far more serious than a singular act that, by itself, might look like a mistake.” Hale-Cusanelli, an Army reservist who previously worked as a security contractor at a Naval base, was convicted of breaching the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and sentenced to four years in prison in 2022. An internal Navy investigation uncovered numerous incidents in which Hale-Cusanelli promoted racist and antisemitic views. Colleagues told investigators Hale-Cusanelli made daily disparaging comments about Jews and one recalled Hale-Cusanelli saying, “Hitler should have finished the job.” At his trial, Hale-Cusanelli denied that he is a white supremacist and Nazi sympathizer. He said that his comments were “ironic” and a form of “self-deprecating humor” he used with friends. “I’m half Jewish and half Puerto Rican,” Hale-Cusanelli testified, telling jurors that his comments were meant to be ironic. “I know it’s offensive. I know it bothers a lot of people. I know it’s repugnant.” Hale-Cusanelli was released from prison in late 2023 and spent the next year on a media blitz tour to discuss his incarceration, including appearing on Martin’s podcast. “Tim Hale is an extraordinary guy. I’ve gotten to know him really well. I’d say we’re friends over the last few years, and especially in the last month since he’s been out of jail,” Martin said when hosting Hale-Cusanelli in July 2024. On that program, Martin made clear he was aware of the Nazi allegations levied against Hale-Cusanelli, twice-bringing it up. “The leaking of the photo where, you know, you resemble, uh, Hitler - or whatever - goofing around, whatever that is, that was done in such a way that you had to live with it everywhere you turned,” he said. “They used your phone and took a photo and leaked a photo to say, ‘Ah, look. These people, these people, MAGA people are antisemitic,’” Martin said. “And the photo was of you, I’ve heard you say it before, you know, you had like a mustache shaved in such a way that you looked vaguely like Hitler and making jokes about it.” The photo was recovered from Hale-Cusanelli’s cell phone and included in the initial criminal complaint filed by the Justice Department when it indicted Hale-Cusanelli in March 2021 – not in a leak like Martin claimed. Martin then asked Hale-Cusanelli if he had ever attended a Nazi rally. “No, I have not,” Hale-Cusanelli responded. “I wouldn’t know where to find one.” The episode was the second time that Martin and Hale-Cusanelli discussed the allegations of Nazi sympathies. In the January appearance, Martin lamented that Hale-Cusanelli was “tried in the media” and that he was a victim of “character assassination” before he was on trial. “l’ll be the first one to admit, to admit that I haven’t always been a great person throughout my life,” replied Hale-Cusanelli. “I have a very dark sense of humor. And frankly, a wannabe actor, a comedian. And so, you know, I kind of dug my own grave to some extent when it comes to, you know, saying horrible things to get a few chuckles out of five people.” “And ultimately they were able to portray me as a far-right extremist, they were able to portray me as basically the reincarnation of the Fuhrer. Unfortunately, that’s – part of that is my fault. But, you know, at the end of the day, being a jerk is not a crime.” Martin’s ties to Hale-Cusanelli have come under scrutiny as his nomination is considered by the Senate. A previous review by CNN’s KFile found that Martin failed to report in his Senate paperwork nearly 200 media appearances he made over the past few years, many of which were on far-right programs and Russian-state media. The Washington Post reported that Martin failed to disclose more than 150 appearances on Russian state TV. The paperwork is reviewed by staffers and members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to evaluate nominees. While it is common for nominees from either party to amend their paperwork, and Martin himself acknowledged that there “may be other materials I have been unable to identify, find or remember,” Martin’s initial disclosures failed to capture the vast majority of his media appearances over the years. “I regret the errors and apologize for any inconvenience,” Martin wrote in one disclosure update he filed earlier in April. Congressional Democrats have sought probes into Martin’s prosecutorial conduct and have raised concerns about Martin’s missing disclosures. They even requested a confirmation hearing for Martin – a rare step taken for US Attorney nominations. But a spokesperson for Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley told CNN that the senator does not intend to hold hearings on Martin’s nomination.