Trump eying Fox News host Jeanine Pirro for top prosecutor in DC

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump is strongly considering installing Fox News host and former prosecutor Jeanine Pirro as interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.

The potential selection comes as Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Thursday that Ed Martin, who is currently serving as D.C.’s interim top prosecutor, would not be taking the position permanently after losing support among top Republicans in the Senate.

An announcement about a new interim U.S. attorney could come as soon as Thursday, sources said. Sources caution that plans could always change and a decision is never final until publicly announced by the president.

The White House did not immediately respond to request for comment from ABC News. A representative for Fox News press relations did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment, nor did Pirro.

Pirro has been a longtime ally of Trump, dating back to her time as a prominent prosecutor in New York. She was an early supporter of his 2016 campaign and publicly defended him during the “Access Hollywood” tape scandal.

Following Trump’s loss in the 2020 election, Pirro pushed false allegations of election fraud involving voting machines and was later among the Fox News employees named in the Dominion Voting Systems defamation lawsuit for broadcasting false claims about the company. Fox News eventually settled for $787.5 million and admitted the statements were false.

In 2019, Pirro was reportedly suspended by Fox News after she questioned the loyalty of Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar to the U.S. Constitution, citing Omar’s Muslim faith.

Martin, who had been vying to become the top prosecutor in one of the nation’s most important U.S. attorney’s offices, has served as the interim U.S. attorney since the start of the administration, but his interim term expires on May 20.

Martin promoted Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” campaign in 2021 and was himself seen on Capitol grounds during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Trump said Thursday that Martin could serve in another capacity at the Department of Justice.

One of Trump’s final acts before leaving office in 2021 was issuing a last-minute pardon to Pirro’s ex-husband, a longtime GOP donor.

With less than an hour before his term ended, Trump granted one final pardon to Albert Pirro, who was convicted more than two decades ago on 34 counts of conspiracy and tax evasion after he was found to have improperly deducted over $1 million in lavish personal expenses as a tax write-off for his businesses.