Pardon chief Ed Martin has been slammed after the Trump goon posted a smiling photo with Hollywood star Russell Brand, who is awaiting trial on rape and sexual assault charges.
Martin—Trump’s far-right-linked U.S. Pardon Attorney and the director of the Department of Justice’s (DoJ) “Weaponization Working Group,” which launched in February to review politicized prosecutions—shared the picture Monday on X with a chirpy “Good morning, America.”
Brand, 49, was charged in April with one count of rape, one count of indecent assault, one count of oral rape, and two counts of sexual assault involving four women.
The Get Him to the Greek star denies all the charges, pleaded not guilty in court on May 30, and remains on conditional bail. A London judge has set a June 2026 trial.
However, Martin’s post triggered replies noting the irony of the friendly meeting between him and the British actor, given the Trump administration’s wall-to-wall boasts about kicking foreign “sexual predators” out of the country.
One critic wrote: “How did someone facing rape charges in the UK get a visa? I thought the whole point was that the President didn’t *want*...rapists to be sent here by foreign countries? Or maybe that’s a no *brown* rapists thing?”
However, while it is believed the pair were photographed in the United States, a source close to Martin told the Daily Beast that the photo had been taken more than a year ago. It is unclear why Martin chose to post it now.
Stacey Young, a former DoJ senior trial attorney who now runs Justice Connection, a network of former DoJ staffers, said the post was an affront to survivors and “encapsulates the callousness, hypocrisy, and misogyny oozing from DOJ’s current leadership.”
“Martin shared this photo with the world at a time when DoJ is canceling hundreds millions of dollars in grants that fund programs serving crime victims, including sexual assault survivors,” she wrote on LinkedIn.
“When the Office on Violence Against Women removed all open funding opportunities from its website; when FBI agents are being pulled away from their normal work, such as investigating sexual predators, so they can do ICE’s job; and when the department, in promoting conspiracy theories surrounding Jeffrey Epstein, has left his sexual assault victims as an afterthought.”
Martin’s selfie partner has lately cozied up to MAGA world.
Brand was a featured guest on Tucker Carlson’s live arena tour last year and even closed with a public prayer. Brand also showed up at the Republican National Convention.
He’s also popped up around Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s orbit, and two weeks ago dialed into a MAHA Action media call from his bathtub—naked—to cheer the Kennedy-aligned group, even as he awaits trial.
Brand is not the first questionable character Martin has been linked with, either.
He has orbited figures like Steve Bannon—whose contempt-of-Congress conviction sent him to prison—publicly urged Trump to ‘liberate’ felon Roger Stone, and even floated clemency for far-right Oath Keepers boss Stewart Rhodes, who was convicted of seditious conspiracy.
The Daily Beast has contacted the Department of Justice and the White House, asking if the administration is comfortable for its pardon attorney to be socializing with foreign men accused of serious sexual offenses.
While the DoJ did not address that point, it said the Office on Violence Against Women Department had nine open Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs), through which an anticipated $128 million in grant funding will be issued, with additional NOFOs forthcoming.
Responding to the Stacey Young quote, a spokeswoman said: “This Department of Justice can remain focused on two critical priorities at the same time: prosecute criminals who exploit children and ensure the efficient use of taxpayer dollars.”
