Donald Trump has appointed Fox News host and former New York prosecutor Jeanine Pirro to serve as interim US Attorney for Washington, D.C., after announcing earlier Thursday that he would withdraw his support for Ed Martin’s full nomination.
“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 on Truth Social on Thursday night. “She is in a class by herself.”
The president praised Pirro’s tenure as Westchester County District Attorney and her work establishing the first domestic violence unit in a prosecutor’s office, describing her as a “powerful crusader for victims of crime.”
“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,” a FOX News Media spokesperson said in a statement to The Independent. “We wish her all the best in her new role in Washington.”
Pirro has consistently defended the Trump administration since he took office.
She has advocated for the use of the wartime Alien Enemies Act to summarily deport alleged gang members.
In a March segment, she stated that she is “not disturbed” by migrants, including asylum seekers, being deported before receiving full court hearings, adding, “The only due process I believe in is the legal way to enter this country.”
Current staffers who spoke with The Independent noted that when the president was initially tapping a slew of Fox News personalities to fill out his administration – Pirro is now one of 23 former network employees hired for Trump’s second term – she openly wondered why her name was not called.
“Judge Jeanine was disappointed that she was not chosen because she has been so loyal,” one network employee said. Indeed, as the staffers noted, “her loyalty to Trump has been unwavering” since he first entered politics, as she was among the first Fox News hosts to openly support his 2016 presidential campaign.
Furthermore, while Pirro is usually in a good mood behind the scenes, two sources say the now-former Fox News host has been “in a great mood” for the past 48 hours. Notably, while Pirro hosted The Five on Wednesday, she was absent from Thursday’s show, which was replaced by Fox News commentator Johnny Joey Jones.
Meanwhile, several former network employees contacted The Independent to comment on the president’s appointment of the longtime pro-Trump Fox host as US Attorney for the District of Columbia.
“What a god-d*mned joke,” one former Fox producer texted right after Pirro’s appointment was announced.
Another former Fox News producer jokingly wondered why so many network personalities were defecting to the Trump administration rather than remaining with the conservative cable giant.
“I do not even understand why any of the Fox News employees who accepted positions in the administration would want them! “Do not they realize they have already made it?” The former employee snarked. “Grifting is the easiest job in the world, and being DC attorney or Def Sec is actually hard!”
“But yeah, Jeanine’s super qualified,” they said. “She will do great.”
Pirro was among the top Fox News talent who “endorsed at times this false notion of a stolen election,” media executive Rupert Murdoch said during a defamation suit filed against the news channel by Dominion Voting Systems, which was later settled for $787 million in 2023.
Pirro’s producers reportedly informed network executives that one of the former prosecutor’s election-time segments was “rife w[ith] conspiracy theories and bs and is yet another example why this woman should never be on live television.”
Prior to the January 6 attack, Pirro compared efforts to disrupt the 2020 election certification to the American Revolutionary War, wondering if there was anyone in Congress “willing to battle for the America that those soldiers fought for, the one that you and I believe in.” (She later condemned the storming of the Capitol).
Trump said earlier Thursday that he would have liked to see Martin nominated, but he withdrew his nomination after Republican senators such as North Carolina’s Thom Tillis announced they would not support the conservative attorney.
“For me, it was disappointing. I will be honest. I have to be straightforward. “I was disappointed, as were many others, but that is how things work sometimes,” Trump said.
Martin reportedly lost support for failing to disclose appearances on Russian state media and for his stances on the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the United States Capitol, which included firing lawyers who brought January 6 charges and advocating for reduced sentences for those convicted in the riot.
Martin, a conservative attorney who supported Trump’s Stop the Steal campaign, falsely claiming that the 2020 election was stolen, was also physically present on the Capitol grounds during the uprising.
During his brief time as interim US Attorney, Martin threatened to investigate Democrats, academic institutions, and some critics of billionaire and Trump adviser Elon Musk.
