Pirro clears Senate Judiciary Committee vote for D.C. U.S. attorney
Jeanine Pirro came one step closer to becoming the District of Columbia’s full-time U.S. attorney Thursday after the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to send her nomination to the Senate floor for a final vote.
The committee previously blocked President Donald Trump’s first choice for the role, Ed Martin, a right-wing podcaster and “Stop the Steal” organizer with no experience as a prosecutor and a history of controversial statements.
But Pirro sailed through without any public discussion, her name mentioned only once alongside 10 other federal prosecutors and judges preceding a vote. The vote was split along party lines, but Republican control of the committee gives them enough votes to send the president’s nominees forward.
Martin’s prospects had been sunk by objections from Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), who more recently clashed with Trump over his spending bill’s cuts to Medicaid. Tillis did not voice any concerns regarding Pirro, a former New York prosecutor, judge and Fox News personality.
The Senate committee hearing centered instead on two other issues: the nomination of Emil Bove to serve on the U.S. Court Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, and the status of the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s supposed list of alleged sex trafficking clients.
Following a disagreement over whether more discussions should be allowed regarding Bove, the Justice Department employee who oversaw dozens of firings within the department and the dismissal of bribery charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams, Democratic senators on the committee walked out.
Senators were able to get a sense of how Pirro and Martin differed on various issues in a 78-page Q&A filled out by Pirro in response to senators’ questions that was obtained by The Washington Post.
In a question from Sen. Dick Durbin, (D-Illinois), the committee’s top Democrat, Pirro disagreed with Martin in naming individuals under investigation. Martin has said previously that if individuals could not be charged with a crime, his office might “name and shame” them instead.
“While there can be circumstances that would be an exception to the rule, typically it is best to not name suspects during an investigation and let court filings speak for themselves,” Pirro wrote in response to a question about Martin’s strategy.
The 74-year-old Pirro also broke with Martin’s assertion that prosecutors should not have to turn over information regarding investigations or personnel information on police officers who are involved in a criminal case, which is required under court orders. In March, Martin said on X and in meetings to staff that he was “rewriting” rules that require prosecutors to turn over all evidence of police credibility issues to defense attorneys and judges before officers testify, despite a 1963 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Brady v. Maryland that required prosecutors to hand over evidence that could help a defendant.
Pirro repeatedly sidestepped numerous questions, including whether there would ever be a legal basis for someone from the executive branch of government to defy a federal court order.
“In my career as a lawyer, I have not had occasion to study this issue in depth,” she wrote.
When asked if prosecutors who worked on the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection cases should be investigated or prosecuted, Pirro responded, “Anyone who commits a crime that can proven beyond a reasonable doubt should be prosecuted.”
She declined to offer her thoughts on whether those convicted in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot cases should have been pardoned.
“The decision to issue a pardon is a power that belongs to the President,” she wrote. “If confirmed, I will focus on restoring integrity to the U.S. attorney’s office.”
Sen. Adam Schiff (D-California) asked Pirro if she agreed with Martin’s decision to fire and demote prosecutors who worked on cases involving Jan. 6 defendants.
“Those were his decisions, and I do not know the facts or reasoning that went into those decisions,” she wrote.
Pirro added that Justice Department employees should not face termination or demotion based on the cases they worked on.
Such personnel, she said “should not face demotion, reassignment, or termination solely based on their involvement in any properly authorized and conducted investigation or prosecution. As with all matters at the Department, personnel actions must be based on performance, conduct, and adherence to DOJ policies. Investigative and prosecutorial decisions must be guided by the facts and the law,” she wrote.
Thirty times, she said she could not recall statements senators posed in their questions, including whether she called for Schiff to be jailed. She said she didn’t remember calling Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) “crazy Mazie” or calling Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) a “classless egocentric maniacal man who has never been part of any team but his own.”
Pirro declined to answer whether she has been in contact with Martin since Trump appointed him pardon attorney.
Pirro - who maintains her primary residence in New York - told the senators that since her appointment as interim D.C. U.S. attorney on May 14, she has met with members of the D.C. Council, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) and the D.C. police and U.S. Capitol Police chiefs. She said she has also met with faith leaders and violence prevention groups. Judges in both U.S. District Court and D.C. Superior Court confirmed that she has met with them as well.
“Aside from time preparing for my son’s wedding in early June, I estimate I have spent every weeknight at my Washington, D.C. address since my appointment as Interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia,” she wrote.
Pirro held a news conference at the U.S. attorney’s office after the vote Thursday to announce the arrest Seth Jason, a former Voice of America employee, on federal charges of making threats against Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia), her family and the family of her staffers in repeated calls between Oct. 11, 2023, and Jan. 21, 2025.
Asked what she had done did differently from Martin to better ensure she cleared the Judiciary Committee’s vote, she declined to speculate.
“Do you think I’m going to touch that?” she quipped. “No.”
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