Trump Taps Fox News Host Jeanine Pirro as Interim U.S. Attorney for D.C.
President Donald Trump is turning once again to Fox News for a top government pick, naming longtime network host Jeanine Pirro as the interim U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., after walking away from his original nominee.
Pirro, a former judge and county prosecutor from New York who joined Fox News in 2006, currently co-hosts the network’s evening roundtable show The Five. Her legal career began on the bench in Westchester County in 1990 before she was elected district attorney for three consecutive terms.
In a Truth Social post on Thursday, Trump announced the move, saying Pirro would take over, at least temporarily, as head of the nation’s largest U.S. Attorney’s office. However, he stopped short of saying whether he’d seek a permanent Senate-confirmed appointment for her.
“Jeanine is incredibly well qualified for this position, and is considered one of the Top District Attorneys in the History of the State of New York. She is in a class by herself,” Trump wrote.
Her appointment came just hours after Trump pulled the nomination of conservative activist Ed Martin Jr., who had been facing stiff opposition. A key Republican senator reportedly refused to back Martin over his vocal support for those who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
“He’s a terrific person, and he wasn’t getting the support from people that I thought,” Trump told reporters from the Oval Office on Thursday. “But we have somebody else that will be great.”
Martin, a leader in Trump’s “Stop the Steal” campaign, had a rocky stint as acting U.S. attorney. His support for Capitol rioters was especially deflating for the Justice Department staff who had spent years prosecuting more than 1,500 of those involved only to watch many be pardoned.
Martin’s own qualifications had been under scrutiny since the start of his appointment. He had never tried a case or served as a prosecutor before Trump named him to the post during his first week in office.
His time in the role has been marked by controversy. He demoted and fired staff involved in sensitive investigations, made inflammatory social media posts about potential targets, and forced the office’s criminal division chief to resign after ordering her to scrutinize a contract awarded during the Biden administration.
Martin’s interim term is set to expire on May 20.
Pirro, too, has faced controversy tied to 2020 election conspiracy theories. In 2021, Smartmatic USA filed a $2.7 billion libel suit against Fox News, Pirro, and others, accusing them of pushing false claims that the voting tech company helped “steal” the election from Trump.
Pirro is the latest in a line of Fox News personalities to land a job in the Trump orbit. That list includes former Fox & Friends Weekend co-host Pete Hegseth, now serving as Trump’s Defense Secretary.
“Jeanine Pirro has been a wonderful addition to The Five over the last three years and a longtime beloved host across Fox News Media who contributed greatly to our success throughout her 14-year tenure. We wish her all the best in her new role in Washington,” a Fox News Media spokesperson said in a statement.
Pirro brings more courtroom experience to the role. A 1975 graduate of Albany Law School, she led one of the country’s first domestic violence units within a prosecutor’s office. In 2005, she briefly launched a campaign to challenge then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, then pivoted to a run for New York attorney general, a race she ultimately lost to Democrat Andrew Cuomo.
Her television career took off during the O.J. Simpson trial, with regular appearances on CNN’s Larry King Live. On Fox News, Pirro has long been a vocal Trump supporter and frequent interviewer.
Trump showed his personal loyalty to her family as well. In the final moments of his first term, he issued a pardon to Pirro’s ex-husband, Albert Pirro, who had been convicted in 2000 on conspiracy and tax evasion charges.
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