U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, a former county prosecutor and New York judge, would be the most senior federal lawyer for Washington, D.C., after dropping his pick Ed Martin Jr. over House concerns about his lack of legal experience.
Pirro, who joined the network in 2006, co-hosts The Five on weekdays and was elected as a judge in New York’s Westchester County Court in 1990 before serving three terms as its elected district attorney.
On Thursday, Trump endorsed Pirro, who will likely assume the position temporarily, in a Truth Social post, noting that she was the first woman to be elected to her former New York judicial posts and commending her commitment to clamping down on crime during her time in office.
“Her establishment of the Domestic Violence Bureau in her Prosecutor’s Office was the first in the Nation. She excelled in all ways,” Trump wrote, adding that she “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.”
Fox News host Jeanine Pirro walks the red carpet at the Turning Point USA Inaugural-Eve Ball at the Salamander Hotel on Jan. 19, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
Samuel Corum / Getty Images
Trump tapped Pirro after withdrawing his nomination of Martin, a conservative activist, for the position earlier Thursday.
The president pulled Martin from consideration after a senior Republican senator said he could not support him for the job due to his defence of rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Martin played a leading role in Trump’s “Stop the Steal” campaign, a movement dedicated to spreading the false belief that the 2020 U.S. election was rigged. Martin’s colleagues spent four years prosecuting more than 1,500 riot defendants only to see the president grant them a collective pardon.
Trump grants sweeping pardon to all Jan. 6 participants charged with crimes
“He’s a terrific person, and he wasn’t getting the support from people that I thought,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday. “But we have somebody else that will be great.”
Pirro also has ties to unfounded conspiracy theories of election fraud.
In 2021, Smartmatic USA, a voting technology company, brought legal action against Fox News, including Pirro and her colleagues, for disseminating falsehoods suggesting that the company helped “steal” the 2020 presidential election from Trump.
The company’s libel suit, filed in a New York state court, sought US$2.7 billion from the defendants.
“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 is not the only Fox News host to be appointed to a senior governmental position by Trump.
Pete Hegseth, who co-hosted Fox & Friends Weekend, was appointed secretary of defence in January.
In March, he became embroiled in a global scandal after details of a planned U.S. military attack in Yemen were leaked to a journalist accidentally added to a Signal group chat with senior U.S. officials, including the vice-president.
On Thursday, also on Truth Social, Trump selected his pick for surgeon general: a physician-turned-wellness influencer, Dr. Casey Means.
— With files from The Associated Press