Trump's ex-pardon chief reveals truth behind pay-to-play pardon storm, Kash Patel's rocky start ... and the president's parting advice

President Donald Trump's former pardon attorney left his post to dive back into the political scrum as November's midterm elections approach.But Ed Martin, who served as interim US Attorney for DC, headed the Department of Justice's 'weaponization' initiative and pardon chief, is also hitting back against allegations Trump's clemency office partially operated as a pay-to-play scheme.A recent 60 Minutes investigation accused high-priced fixers of selling backdoor access to presidential pardons for as much as $600,000. The broadcast placed infamous right-wing provocateurs Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl square in its crosshairs. In a series of covertly recorded meetings, the pair were caught boasting about their supposed back-door leverage with the White House, assuring clients they could lock in executive clemency - for a staggering price.'Those clowns that were on 60 Minutes, they basically admitted that they were playing fast and loose with what they could do,' Martin declared. 'The one guy complaining failed to get a pardon, and the two guys that said they'd get it for him failed.' To counter the 'pardons for sale' narrative, Martin pointed to a recent online broadcast he hosted with Duke Tanner, a former inmate whose drug sentence Trump commuted and later fully pardoned.Tanner told the audience he never had a lawyer or a broker, Martin said. President Donald Trump's former pardon attorney Ed Martin is hitting back against allegations that Trump's clemency office partially operated as a pay-to-play scheme Martin - a deeply entrenched MAGA loyalist, former right-hand man to conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly, and self-described 'fighter' - has cycled through several administration re-brandings He dismissed conflict-of-interest critiques over Blanche's history as Trump's personal defense attorney as 'silly' saying, it's actually better'He just was doing the right things in prison, and everything found him.'Martin said claims that applicants routinely bypass official channels ignore an overwhelmed DOJ bureau slogging through nearly 20,000 petitions and sending vetted batches of roughly 2,000 names to the White House each quarter.Trump personally urged Martin to embark in a media tour during an hour-long Oval Office exit interview ten days ago.'Trump would say to me, 'You like doing media. Go do media. It's important to get out there,' Martin revealed. 'I said, 'I want to go out and talk more about it, especially before November 3.' And he said, 'Yeah, it's a good idea.'As pardon attorney, Martin rarely had such facetime with the president. But his bond with Trump traced back to 2016 with Schlafly, an early Trump fan who the president still loves to raise.Martin also dismissed as 'silly' conflict-of-interest critiques of Attorney General Todd Blanche, who served as Trump's personal defense lawyer.It was a surprisingly generous stance given their rocky history. Behind closed doors, Blanche had previously clashed with Martin over press leaks, eventually stripping the pardon chief of his duties leading the anti-weaponization initiative. Yet Martin played down the past turf wars. Martin, the firebrand originally tapped to dismantle the 'weaponization' of the federal government, left his role to become the pardon attorney. He then was moved out of that role and now working outside government In other revelations, Martin addressed the current leadership under Attorney General Todd Blanche'You have to sort of grow into understanding what the boss wants,' he explained, referring to Blanche and how he can succeed in his new role.He also said FBI Director Kash Patel has grown into the job, with improved energy and focus, admittedly after a rocky start.'Kash took a little bit of time to get things going, and then he got things going. But inside DOJ, you see energy. So I felt and saw more energy out of the FBI than I did when Kash first started,' he revealed. 'The FBI under Kash has always moved aggressively but it is not a coincidence that it is moving better than ever after the change at AG,' a law enforcement official tells the Daily Mail. But Martin said his exit from government was strategic, timed to rally conservative voters before the midterms, and tied to an administration push to restore gun rights to non-violent felons. He says he plans to visit 10 states including New York, New Jersey, Iowa, New Hampshire and more.'If you want more of this, you're going to have to vote for Republicans,' he said.Trump has not announced a new pardon attorney yet.The White House pushed back on the 'pardon economy.''Anyone spending money to lobby for pardons is foolishly wasting their money and the President doesn't even know who these so-called 'lobbyists,' said spokesman Lauren Bis.