President Donald Trump once again turned to Fox News on Thursday to select a member for his administration, appointing "The Five" co-host Jeanine Pirro as the acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. Jeanine Pirro, 73, will replace interim appointment Ed Martin after Trump withdrew the nomination for the job on Thursday.
The former president vowed to name "somebody who will be great" for the role. That person now appears to be Pirro, who, prior to her time at Fox as both a show host and frequent commentator, spent decades working as a judge, prosecutor, and public official and has been in the good books of Trump for years.
Trump's New Choice for DC Attorney
Trump confirmed the selection in a post on his Truth Social account on Thursday evening. However, he did not clarify if Pirro would be nominated for the position on a permanent basis. He praised Pirro for being a pioneer for women in law enforcement and lauded her efforts in prosecuting cases involving domestic violence.
"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 wrote on Truth Social.
"She is in a class by herself. Congratulations Jeanine!" the president added.
"Jeanine Pirro has been a wonderful addition to The Five over the last three years and a longtime beloved host across FOX News Media who contributed greatly to our success throughout her 14-year tenure. We wish her all the best in her new role in Washington,' a Fox News Media spokesperson said in a statement.
Earlier on Thursday, Trump withdrew Ed Martin's nomination to be the chief federal prosecutor in the nation's capital after facing resistance from Senate Republicans. "He's a terrific person, and he wasn't getting the support from people that I thought," Trump said of Martin, whose period as acting DC US attorney was set to expire May 20.
"I can only lift that little phone so many times in a day, but we have somebody else that will be great," he added.
Happy with New Nomination
Pirro, 73, was a prosecutor, judge, and district attorney in Westchester County. She spent 15 years working as a county prosecutor, eventually becoming an assistant district attorney, and was elected as a judge in 1990.
In 1993, she made history as the first woman elected to lead Westchester County's top law enforcement office.
A graduate of Albany Law School, Pirro was elected to three terms as District Attorney, and earned recognition for her tough stance on domestic violence cases. "During her time in office, Jeanine was a powerful crusader for victims of crime," Trump wrote in his announcement.
"Her establishment of the Domestic Violence Bureau in her Prosecutor's Office was the first in the Nation," the president noted. "She excelled in all ways."
In 2005, Pirro chose not to run for re-election in Westchester County. Instead, she decided to run against Hillary Clinton for her U.S. Senate seat in New York.
Though her Senate bid was short-lived—she ended her campaign just a few months after launching it—Pirro went on to become the Republican nominee for New York attorney general in 2006.
Pirro lost that election to Andrew Cuomo, who would later become the Democratic governor of New York. A longtime presence on cable news and morning talk shows, Pirro joined Fox News in 2011 following her role as the star of the courtroom reality series Judge Jeanine Pirro on the CW Network.
