President Donald Trump has selected Fox News personality Jeanine Pirro, a former district attorney who amplified false claims of election fraud in 2020, to serve as Washington’s interim chief prosecutor.
The announcement, made Thursday night on Trump’s Truth Social account, came hours after he told reporters he was pulling his first pick to be the US attorney for the District of Columbia, controversial Missouri lawyer and “Stop the Steal” organizer Ed Martin, after a key Senate Republican said he opposed him.
Trump called Pirro a “powerful crusader for victims of crime.”
“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,” he wrote.
Trump also posted Thursday that Martin would be the new pardon attorney and associate deputy attorney general, as well as the director of the Weaponization Working Group. That working group, announced in February by Attorney General Pam Bondi, would review Justice Department activities over the past four years to identify instances where conduct “appears to have been designed to achieve political objectives,” including criminal probes into Trump.
“In these highly important roles, Ed will make sure we finally investigate the Weaponization of our Government under the Biden Regime, and provide much needed Justice for its victims,” Trump wrote.
The most recent pardon attorney, Liz Oyer, testified before Congress last month that she was fired for refusing to recommend that actor Mel Gibson have his right to own firearms reinstated following a domestic violence conviction.
Pirro, a former county court judge and district attorney in New York, was one of the Fox News hosts whose name came up in Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit for making false statements about voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election. Fox News agreed to pay $787.5 million to settle the voting machine company’s claims.
Before joining Fox, she hosted the weekday courtroom television program “Judge Jeanine Pirro.” She ran for New York attorney general as a Republican in 2006, but lost to Democrat Andrew Cuomo.
Mike Davis, a Trump ally who leads the conservative Article III Project, wrote on X that Pirro is “truly a patriot for stepping forward to serve in this crucial temporary post.” He also hinted at the possibility that she could be nominated to serve in the role full-time, which would require Senate confirmation, saying he hopes Trump “can convince her to stay for all four years.”
Pirro, who hosts the Fox News show “The Five,” is the latest of Trump’s picks for key positions to have appeared regularly on Fox News. Others include Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who previously co-hosted Fox & Friends Weekend, and former Fox Business co-host Sean Duffy, now transportation secretary.
A Fox News spokesperson said by email that Pirro has been “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.”
Martin was tapped as Washington’s acting US attorney on Jan. 20, and his term was set to expire on May 20, at which point the Washington federal trial court could appoint a replacement.
Martin’s nomination was derailed after Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), a member of the Judiciary Committee considering the nomination, balked at his views on the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol. Martin defended Jan. 6 participants in court and has called them “patriots.” He also oversaw the dismissal of criminal charges against hundreds of Jan. 6 defendants after Trump pardoned more than 1,500 Capitol rioters.
Tillis wrote on social media Thursday that Pirro “has had a long and storied career as a prosecutor” is “a great choice” by Trump to serve as the D.C. US attorney.
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