Trump formally taps Jeanine Pirro as DC federal prosecutor

WASHINGTON (CN) — President Donald Trump has formally nominated interim U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro for a permanent posting as the capital city’s top federal prosecutor, according to Senate records.

Pirro, a former New York district attorney and Fox News personality, will be the White House’s second nominee for Washington’s U.S. attorney slot — though she already appears to be better positioned for confirmation than her ill-fated predecessor.

Trump, who has weighed in on nearly all of his judicial nominees so far in posts on his social media platform Truth Social, has been silent on his move to select Pirro for the role for which she is already serving in an acting capacity.

But the Senate’s nominations archive shows that the White House informed lawmakers on Monday that she had been tapped for the permanent posting.

Pirro last month stepped in as acting U.S. attorney for D.C. to replace the outgoing Ed Martin, a conservative legal activist and former chair of the Missouri Republican party. He had initially been under Senate consideration for a four-year term as the city’s top federal prosecutor, but his nomination fell apart after he lost some key Republican support.

Though Trump said at the time that she was “incredibly well qualified” to be U.S. attorney for D.C., it’s been an open question whether Pirro would get the nod for the full-time role. Still, Senate Republicans have already signaled that they’d be open to supporting her.

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a Tuesday post on X that he had met with Pirro and discussed her qualifications and “fighting crime.”

After she was tapped as interim U.S. attorney last month, North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis, whose opposition to Martin proved lethal to his hopes of becoming a federal prosecutor, told Courthouse News that Pirro was “fine.”

Tillis had sunk Martin’s nomination based on the nominee’s stance on the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and what the senator thought was his sympathetic view of rioters prosecuted by the Justice Department. By contrast, the North Carolina Republican said last month, Pirro’s past statements on the Capitol riot were much more satisfying.

“That’s what I needed in a D.C. U.S. attorney,” said Tillis, adding that he would vote for Pirro if she was formally nominated.

Following the 2021 riot, Pirro — then a host on Fox News — called the attempt to overturn former President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory “deplorable, reprehensible and criminal.”

But Pirro also used her position as a television personality to spread claims of voter fraud related to the 2020 election, an issue which formed the backbone of the “Stop the Steal” movement often associated with the Capitol riot. The former Westchester County, New York, district attorney was the defendant in a defamation case filed by voting machine company Smartmatic, which said that she had made false claims about voting machine fraud.

Pirro was also named in a separate lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox, which the network settled for nearly $800 million.

Other Senate Republicans also said that they would still give the nominee a fair shake. Louisiana Senator John Kennedy told Courthouse News last month that Pirro was a “good choice” for U.S. attorney but wouldn’t commit to voting for her, adding that he would not give any nominee a “blank check.”

“If you’re asking me if I think she’s qualified, the answer is yes,” Kennedy said at the time, and then quipped: “Don’t you run an article saying I’ve got concern about her.”

Though the Senate Judiciary Committee will consider Pirro’s nomination as U.S. attorney for D.C., the panel is not required to hold a hearing at which she must testify. Democrats, however, are sure to demand one as they did with Martin.

Pirro’s initial appointment as acting U.S. attorney for D.C. ruffled some feathers on Capitol Hill — not just because of her history as a firebrand conservative TV personality, but also because Trump’s move to prop up two consecutive acting prosecutors appeared to sidestep federal law.

According to statute, the president may appoint an interim U.S. attorney for a 120-day period. After Martin’s term expired May 20, and without a permanent replacement, federal law says that the U.S. District Court for D.C. has the power to appoint an acting federal prosecutor until the Senate can confirm one.

Senate Democrats have called the use of subsequent acting U.S. attorneys an “untested and unprecedented” use of the White House’s authority to appoint interim federal officials.

Martin, meanwhile, has since stepped into a new role at the Justice Department as its lead pardon attorney. He is also spearheading an agency effort to root out what Trump has called “weaponization” of the justice system.

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