Jeanine Pirro speaks during 2022 FOX Nation Patriot Awards in 2022 in Hollywood, Fla.
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President Trump announced Fox News host Jeanine Pirro as the interim U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., after withdrawing his earlier pick.
“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 posted on social media on Thursday.
He listed Pirro’s experience as a prosecutor and state judge in New York and said she was a “crusader for victims of crime.” The announcement continues a trend of nominating people from the Fox network to key roles in his administration. Pirro is a co-host on “The Five” and previously hosted “Justice with Judge Jeanine.”
His earlier pick, Ed Martin, a longtime Republican activist with no previous prosecutorial experience, had been serving as the interim U.S. Attorney in the nation’s capital since Trump’s inauguration. He faced unified opposition from Senate Democrats and pushback from some key Republicans.
The U.S. Attorney’s office in Washington, D.C., along with its counterpart in Manhattan, is widely considered among the most important federal law enforcement roles in the country.
Like Martin, Pirro was a Trump loyalist who helped promote the false theory that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.
She was names as central to a defamation lawsuit against Fox News by Dominion Voting Systems. The election machine and technology company accused Fox and several of its stars including Pirro of spreading baseless claims that the firm tried to throw the presidential race to Joe Biden over Donald Trump in 2020.
Pirro would replace Martin, whose nomination ultimately collapsed under the weight of multiple controversies.
Among them: Martin’s outspoken advocacy for defendants charged in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol; his past praise for an alleged “Nazi sympathizer“; and a series of letters he sent to medical journals, Wikipedia’s leadership and members of Congress, which many interpreted as threats.
As interim U.S. Attorney, Martin directed the firing of prosecutors who had worked on Jan. 6 cases, launched an internal investigation into their conduct, and ordered the dismissal of ongoing Capitol riot probes.
Tillis key vote against Martin
Before his appointment, Martin promoted conspiracy theories about the Jan. 6 attack, including the claim that federal agents instigated the violence.
“The more we find out about how staged and managed this was,” Martin said in a 2024 podcast interview, “the more we have to have less judgment for somebody who hits a cop.”
Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he could not support Martin’s confirmation because of his views on Jan. 6.
“We have to be very, very clear that what happened on Jan. 6 was wrong. It was not prompted or created by other people to put those people in trouble. They made a stupid decision, and they disgraced the United States by absolutely destroying the Capitol,” Tillis told reporters earlier this week..
“If Mr. Martin were being put forth as a U.S. Attorney for any district, except the district where Jan. 6 happened,” Tillis said, “I’d probably support him. But not in this district.”
Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, credited Tillis’ pushback on Martin’s views on Jan. 6 as “very important.”
And Brendan Ballou, a former federal prosecutor who worked on Jan. 6 cases and left the office shortly after Martin’s arrival, called the withdrawal of Martin’s nomination “a great day for anyone who cares about a fair and functional justice system.”
Trump to seek another role for Martin
Martin’s supporters expressed disappointment over the failed nomination.
“Ed Martin is a very good man and close friend of mine,” Mike Davis, a prominent right-wing attorney, posted on social media. “These Republicans are not willing to fight like Democrats, who confirmed countless radical nominees for Joe Biden.”
Trump told reporters that he had limited political capital to spend on Martin’s troubled nomination, given his other priorities.
“I have so many different things that I’m doing now with the trade. You know, I’m one person,” Trump said. “I can only lift that little phone so many times in a day.”
Trump said he would name Martin as the new director of the Weaponization Working Group at the Department of Justice, as well as associate deputy attorney general, and pardon attorney. The roles don’t require Senate confirmation.
“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 posted on social media.
Shortly after Trump’s announcement of his withdrawal as the interim U.S. Attorney, Martin posted what appeared to be an A.I.-generated image of himself dressed as the Pope, with the caption “Plot twist.”
NPR’s Anna Yukhananov contributed to this article.
