Former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro confirmed as top Washington prosecutor
Jeanine Pirro, ex television personality, is now US Attorney for District of Columbia. Senate confirmed her in a 50-45 vote. Donald Trump nominated her. Pirro previously hosted 'Justice with Judge Jeanine' on Fox News. Democrats criticized her promotion of election conspiracy theories. Dominion Voting Systems sued Fox News, settling for nearly $800 million.
AP FILE - Interim U.S. Attorney General for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro listens to President Donald Trump speak during her swearing in ceremony, May 28, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File) The US Senate on Saturday confirmed former television personality and judge Jeanine Pirro to a key US judiciary post, making her the latest Donald Trump-nominated Fox News host to join the government.
Pirro was confirmed to become the US Attorney for the District of Columbia in a 50-45 vote, as Trump urged the Republican-led Senate to work through the weekend to approve his nominations over six months after he returned to the White House.
Pirro was named to the position in an interim capacity by Trump -- who has made a habit of filling powerful government posts with right-wing television network hosts and hardline loyalists -- in May.The brash 74-year-old former district attorney of New York's Westchester County was previously described by Trump as being "in a class by herself."She made a name for herself hosting weekend television show "Judge Jeanine Pirro" (2008-2011) and then Fox News Channel's "Justice with Judge Jeanine," which ran for 11 years.
She was a co-host of Fox News's show "The Five" until she assumed her interim post, considered one of the most powerful US attorney roles.Pirro will join the ranks of other cable news hires like Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who co-hosted "Fox & Friends Weekend," and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, a former reality TV show competitor and Fox Business co-host.Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Senate's Judiciary Committee, said Pirro "should never be a permanent US Attorney," calling her pick a "rubber stamp for Donald Trump."Durbin cited Pirro's promotion of conspiracy theories in relation to the 2020 election, which Trump lost to Joe Biden.After touting unfounded allegations of election fraud in 2020, Pirro was named a defendant in a defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems, which said Fox broadcast false statements about the company.Fox News settled the case for nearly $800 million.She has also authored several books, including "Liars, Leakers, and Liberals: The Case Against the Anti-Trump Conspiracy," from 2018. The Washington Post described the book as "sycophantic" in its support for Trump.Her ex-husband Albert Pirro was convicted of tax evasion when she was a district attorney in New York. He was pardoned by Trump during his first presidential term.As part of the spate of expedited confirmation votes, Trump's former lawyer Emil Bove became a federal appellate judge last week.
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