Committee member cites false statements and omissions in Ed Martin questionnaire; John Eisenberg reported favorably

A member of the Senate Judiciary Committee told colleagues the committee would not move forward on the nomination of Ed Martin after receiving late responses that, in the member's view, contained false statements, contradictions and significant omissions.

The committee member said Mr. Martin gave inconsistent answers about his relationship with Timothy Hale Cusinelli, described alleged praise and awards Mr. Martin had given to Hale Cusinelli, and cited remarks and appearances Mr. Martin failed to disclose in his questionnaire. "Mr. Martin made a number of false statements and contradictory statements that are easily disproven by material he himself disclosed in the Senate Judiciary questionnaire," the committee member said.

The committee member said Mr. Martin omitted roughly 400 items from a required disclosure of about 1,900 writings and appearances, and that the Washington Post had identified nearly 150 appearances on RT and Sputnik that Mr. Martin did not disclose. The member also quoted past statements attributed to Mr. Martin about January 6 rioters and comments the member described as excusing violence, saying those remarks and associations raised questions about Mr. Martin's fitness for the U.S. Attorney role.

"This man, Mr. Martin, has not taken our process and questionnaire seriously. His record makes it clear that he does not have the temperament or judgment for this job," the committee member said, according to the transcript.

Separately on the agenda, the committee proceeded to consider other nominees. During a roll call on John Eisenberg's nomination, members recorded "Aye" and "No" votes and the clerk announced, "Nominee will be favorably reported." The transcript records the clerk's announcement but does not reproduce a detailed roll-call tally in a consistent, machine-readable format.

What happened at the meeting: A committee member detailed specific concerns about Mr. Martin's disclosures, associations and past remarks and said they would not move to advance his nomination at that time. The committee placed statements from other senators into the record when requested, and the meeting proceeded to votes on other nominees, including John Eisenberg, whose nomination the clerk announced would be favorably reported to the Senate floor.

What the transcript does not show: The record does not show a formal, final committee vote on Mr. Martin at this meeting; it records that members agreed not to bring the nomination forward for a vote at that time. The transcript does not include responses from Mr. Martin during the meeting, nor does it include a complete, itemized roll-call vote in the transcript text for John Eisenberg.