Another from TV land: US Senate confirms Trump ally and ex-Fox host ‘Judge Jeanine Pirro' as DC prosecutor
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 US$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. — AFP
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