May 9 (UPI) — President Donald Trump has appointed former Fox News host and ex-prosecutor Jeanine Pirro as interim U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C.
Trump made the announcement on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Thursday, after withdrawing his original pick for the job due to a lack of congressional support for confirmation.
Pirro continues the trend of Trump, a former TV personality himself, selecting people for his cabinet and other positions from among Fox News personalities and those who pushed his false claims of election fraud.
“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,” Trump said in the post, without providing proof.
“She is in a class by herself.”
Trump picked Pirro after abandoning Ed Martin, as it became clear this week he would not have the votes for Senate confirmation.
Martin was a controversial pick for the position, as the only prosecutorial experience he had gained came after Trump named him interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia on Jan. 20.
A far-right activist, Martin supported the president’s false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election who has aligned himself with Jan. 6 defendants, reasons why Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said he could not support his nomination.
On Friday night, Trump said in a statement that Martin will be named the new director of the Justice Department’s Weaponization Working Group.
“In these highly important roles, Ed will make sure we finally investigate the Weaponization of our Government under the Biden Regime,” Trump said, “and provide much needed Justice for its victims.”
Like Martin, Pirro has been accused of supporting Trump’s claims of election fraud following his 2020 loss to Joe Biden, and was among Fox News hosts named in a lawsuit brought against the broadcaster by Dominion Voting Systems for spreading Trump’s false election denial claims. Fox News and Dominion settled the lawsuit in April 2023, with Fox agreeing to pay the election company $787.5 million.
“Grand slam, home run, hat trick pick,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in a statement Friday.
“She is exactly the right person at the right time to take on this responsibility,” he continued, adding that “This is exactly what is needed to clean up DC.”
Pirro was elected a Westchester County Court judge in 1990 and became the county’s district attorney three years later. In the 2000s, she became a right-wing TV personality, hosting Justice w/ Judge Jeanine from 2011-2021 and The Five from 2021-2022, according to her IMDb page.
“Jeanine Pirro is yet another unqualified TV personality with a history of putting Trump and violent insurrectionists above the rule of law,” the Democratic National Committee said Friday in a statement.
“She’ll be a disaster for public safety and an embarrassment to law enforcement — just like Trump’s last failed pick for the same job.”