President Donald Trump said Thursday that he is naming Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, a former county prosecutor and elected judge, to be the top federal prosecutor for the nation's capital after abandoning his first pick for the job.
Pirro, who joined Fox News in 2006, cohosts the network's show "The Five" on weekday evenings. She was elected as a judge in New York's Westchester County Court in 1990 before serving three terms as the county's elected district attorney.
Trump tapped Pirro to at least temporarily lead the nation's largest U.S. Attorney's office after pulling his nomination of conservative activist Ed Martin Jr. for the position earlier Thursday. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he was naming Pirro as the interim U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., but didn't indicate whether he would nominate her for the Senate-confirmed position on a more permanent basis.
"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. She is in a class by herself," Trump wrote.
Trump withdrew Martin from consideration after a key Republican senator said he could not support Martin for the job due to his defense of rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.