President Donald Trump on Thursday nominated Jeanine Pirro to be U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C. — a Fox News host with a history of incendiary statements:
“Why all of a sudden is it if you’re Black, you cannot be made accountable?”
“There is still time to prosecute [Hillary Clinton].”
“The left are a bunch of haters!”
Trump is picking Pirro, a former county prosecutor and judge, after he withdrew his previous nominee, right-wing activist Ed Martin. Martin had faced bipartisan pushback for defending January 6th rioters.
But Pirro has controversies herself. The longtime friend of Trump has been an unabashed defender of him; has vocally called for Hillary Clinton to be prosecuted; and has a history of racist comments, such as implying that Muslim Rep. Ilhan Omar’s hijab means she follows Sharia law.
"Think about it: Omar wears a hijab, which, according to the Quran, 33:59, tells women to cover so they won’t get molested," Pirro said on her show in 2019. “Is her adherence to this Islamic doctrine indicative of her adherence to Sharia law, which in itself is antithetical to the United States Constitution?”
And Pirro even got Fox News into legal trouble by bringing on Trump attorney Sidney Powell and endorsing her false 2020 election conspiracy theories.
Now, she’ll be the 23rd former Fox News employee Trump has named to work in his administration.
Pirro will serve on an interim basis, but her appointment could lead to a legal fight. The U.S. Senate is meant to confirm the permanent pick, but Trump is reportedly nominating her to serve on a full-time basis. Such a move could lead to a lawsuit from Senate Democrats seeking to assert their power over the selection of U.S. attorney picks, and to prevent future presidents from bypassing the chamber.
