A former defense attorney for U.S. Capitol riot defendants and a major voice in President Trump’s “Stop the Steal” movement after the 2020 election was tapped this week to serve as the interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.

Ed Martin, the ex-chairman of the Missouri Republican Party who became a board member for a nonprofit supporting Jan. 6, 2021, defendants, was made the temporary head of the federal office that oversaw thousands of cases against Capitol riot suspects.

Mr. Martin, 54, moved to close down those prosecutions once he assumed office Monday and helped secure pardons for more than 1,500 of those defendants, including some convicted of assaulting law enforcement on Capitol grounds.

Mr. Martin worked for a member of the Proud Boys who pleaded guilty to attacking a police officer with an axe handle. The defendant was sentenced to nearly five years in prison.

In other cases involving violent suspects, he either briefly represented the defendants or never appeared in court with them.

The Patriot Freedom Project, which Mr. Martin helps oversee, has referred to the Jan. 6 defendants as victims of political persecution. The nonprofit also held fundraisers for the defendants.

Mr. Martin tweeted he was at the Capitol during the riot and described the scene as “Like Mardi Gras in DC today: love, faith and joy.” Ashli Babbitt had been fatally shot by a U.S. Capitol Police officer at the time Mr. Martin posted on social media.

According to NBC News, Mr. Martin urged “die-hard true Americans” to work until their “last breath” to “stop the steal” in a speech the day before the riot erupted.

He was subpoenaed by a House committee during a 2021 investigation of the riot.

Mr. Martin used to live in St. Louis and ran the city’s election board.

He also served as chief of staff for Missouri’s former Republican Gov. Matt Blunt. Mr. Martin ran unsuccessfully to become the state’s attorney general and for Congress representing the St. Louis area.

He’s expected to leave the office soon since the Trump transition team said last month that Mr. Martin will serve as chief of staff at the Office of Management and Budget.

Mr. Trump is expected to nominate a permanent replacement for the office that handles federal cases as well as all major crime cases in D.C.

• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.