NC Chief Justice to Trump abettor: What happened to Mark Martin?

It’s not publicly known who the Democrats will name as witnesses as former President Trump’s impeachment trial starts on Monday, but it could be revealing if they call North Carolina’s former Chief Justice Mark Martin.

Two recent reports in The New York Times have cited Martin as being among several lawyers who told Trump what he wanted to hear about the legality of overturning the results of the presidential election. Martin’s involvement – and the radical nature of his reported advice – have raised eyebrows among North Carolina lawyers who regarded him as a moderate Republican and careful jurist.

Martin, who stepped down from the state Supreme Court in 2019 to become dean of Regent University Law School in Virginia Beach, Va., has not responded to repeated requests for comment about his purported counsel to Trump.

It is an odd silence. If the Times’ reports are not accurate, Martin presumably would want to set the record straight. It also would be helpful to hear the law dean at a university founded by televangelist Pat Robertson concede that Joe Biden was legitimately elected president.

As it is, we’re left with the impression that the man who once headed North Carolina’s judicial system encouraged the president on a baseless legal course that culminated in the violent Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The first Times report, published Jan. 10, described Trump’s pressuring of Vice President Mike Pence and mentioned Martin. The report said: “Heading into [Jan. 6], some advisers privately said Mr. Trump appeared to believe that Mr. Pence could legally hand him the election in his role presiding over the vote count.

“At one point, Mr. Trump told the vice president that he had spoken with Mark Martin, the former chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, who he said had told him that Mr. Pence had that power. Mr. Pence had assured Mr. Trump that he did not.”

The second report, published Jan. 31, described Martin as one of several lawyers who drew up a far-fetched lawsuit backed by a number of Republican state attorneys general. The lawsuit asked the Supreme Court to throw out the results of votes in four states won by Joe Biden because of alleged voting irregularities. The Supreme Court refused to consider it, saying that states are responsible for their elections and other states have no standing to challenge results elsewhere.

Richard Bernstein, a Washington, D.C., attorney, filed an amicus brief challenging the lawsuit as legally preposterous: “Plaintiff’s Motions make a mockery of federalism and separation of powers. It would violate the most fundamental constitutional principles for this Court to serve as the trial court for presidential election disputes.”

Perhaps Martin’s involvement with Trump as the president raged against his clear defeat was less direct and his advice more nuanced than described by the Times. He should clear it up. Otherwise it looks like the state’s former chief justice, a member of the state’s high court for more than 20 years, is either an inept lawyer, a blind Trump loyalist, or both.

Meanwhile, Martin can be assigned a provisional spot in North Carolina’s Trumpian Hall of Shame with these other North Carolinians who played a role in the sorry final months of Trump’s term:

Louis DeJoy of Greensboro, the postmaster general whose abrupt changes in mail processing threatened the prompt delivery of mail-in ballots.

Sidney Powell, the graduate of Raleigh’s Broughton High School, UNC-Chapel Hill and the UNC Law School, who fed Trump conspiracy theories about rigged voting machines.

Mark Meadows, the former North Carolina congressman and White House chief of staff, who joined in as Trump pressured Georgia election officials to “find” enough votes to overturn his loss there.

The freshman U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-11th, who rallied a pro-Trump crowd before the attack on the Capitol saying, “Wow! This crowd has some fight in it.”

The seven of North Carolina’s eight Republicans in the U.S. House (Cawthorn included) who – even after the mob stormed the Capitol – voted against certifying election results showing Biden as the winner.

And, finally, North Carolina Sens. Richard Burr and Thom Tillis, who voted to not even bother with an impeachment trial.

Barnett: 919-829-4512, nbarnett@newsobserver.com