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A Trump-nominated prosecutor facing congressional scrutiny over past praise of a Nazi sympathizer has expressed regret and said he did not know the individual’s problematic history.

In an interview this week, Ed Martin, a former St. Louis-area resident and Missouri Republican Party Chairman, currently serving as interim U.S. Attorney for D.C., said “I’m sorry” about his praise for Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, described by the Department of Justice as a Nazi sympathizer and white supremacist. Martin called Hale-Cusanelli “extraordinary” while emceeing an awards ceremony last year at President Donald Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.

“I denounce everything about what that guy said, everything about the way he talked, and all as I’ve now seen it,” Martin said. “At the time, I didn’t know it.”

Most recently, Martin and Hale-Cusanelli appeared together as speakers at a fundraising event for the Phyllis Schlafly Eagles, an advocacy group Martin has led since 2016, according to a report by Mother Jones.

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee called on the Republican leadership to hold a hearing — despite the panel’s practice of skipping hearings for U.S. Attorney nominees — to allow members to question Martin about what they described as “shocking conduct” at the Bedminster awards event hosted by the Patriot Freedom Project, a nonprofit created to support Jan. 6 Capitol riot defendants.

Martin acknowledged that he should have known better. “But,” he added, “I certainly didn’t know all the terrible things that he said and how he had acted. I think that’s terrible, and I denounced it completely. I hate it. I hate that it happened.”

He said that the Aug. 14 event was ultimately cut short to clear the venue for an event on antisemitism hosted by Trump and GOP megadonor Miriam Adelson. Martin said he attended that event, during which Trump blamed the Biden-Harris administration for the rise in antisemitism and repeated his criticism of Jewish Americans who vote for Democrats.

Martin noted that he currently serves as a special adviser to Leo Terrell, head of the Trump administration’s task force to combat antisemitism, and said he was behind the idea of organizing a series of trips to 10 universities that the administration says have not done enough to protect Jewish students against antisemitism. Martin also mentioned that, since being tapped to head the D.C. office on an interim basis in January, he has taken the lead on several cases involving Hamas, including vandalism at a protest at Union Station when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was addressing Congress; efforts to prosecute individuals involved in the killing of American citizens during the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel; and monitoring the use of cryptocurrency for terrorist activities.

Addressing the Senate confirmation scrutiny, Martin said the incident has made him “think and talk more” about his judgment, “and it’s going to help me learn to be more careful and smart.” He said that he will address the issue publicly and has had meetings with Senate staffers to explain his positions.

A spokesperson for Sen. Dick Durbin, the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee and the minority whip, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

This story was originally published on the Forward.