Mark Martin, who was an informal legal adviser for Donald Trump’s battle against the 2020 election, is facing scrutiny for purportedly helping fuel the violence that broke out at the Capitol after the real estate mogul’s Stop the Steal rally.
As reported by The Charlotte Observer , the lawyer played a role in two of the “most controversial legal maneuvers” in the effort to overturn the election results. The publication highlighted multiple legal experts who argued that Martin’s decision to aid Trump in this plot “set the stage” for the storming of the Capitol and should be investigated.
“All the lawyers who whipped up Trump’s followers into a frenzy based on the completely baseless belief that the election had been stolen must bear a share of the responsibility for what happened on Jan. 6,” Norm Eisen, an attorney and expert on law, ethics, and anti-corruption at the Brookings Institution, said.
“They kept setting up Trump’s followers for these legal disappointments, elevating their hopes, which came crashing down again and again, enraging the future insurrectionists more and more.”
According to Eisen, the culmination of these legal failures contributed to the chaos that broke out on January 6.
“Until finally Trump lit the short fuse with his words on Jan. 6, and threw a human bomb at Congress where it exploded into violence and death.”
Duke law professor Jim Colema noted Martin’s previous position as chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court and argued his role in Trump’s post-election campaign was “damaging” to the profession.
As reported by The New York Times , Trump allegedly told former Vice President Mike Pence that he had spoken to Martin, who reportedly assured the former president that Pence had the power to hand him another term while overseeing the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory. Despite the claim, Pence assured Trump he did not have such authority.
The scrutiny has intensified on Trump allies who played a role in the events that preceded the Capitol riot. Notably, Seth Abramson predicted that GOP operative Roger Stone — who was recently pardoned by the former president — would soon be arrested for his alleged incitement of violence.
Trump himself is among the people whose words are being probed by law enforcement. Last month, District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine said the former U.S. leader and all of the speakers at the Stop the Steal rally are under the microscope for possible incitement and may eventually be charged.
