When President Donald J. Trump approached former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro about serving under FBI Director Kash Patel, she made a decision that underscored both her independence and her ambitions.
According to reporting from Glenn Thrush, aides to the president reached out to Pirro “late last year” after Trump tapped Patel — a podcaster with limited law enforcement experience — to lead the Bureau. Pirro, whose career includes stints as a prosecutor and judge in New York’s Westchester County, was invited to take the deputy role. She declined.
Thrush reported that while Pirro had “tried and failed to secure a top Justice Department job” in Trump’s first term, this time she had “no interest” in working for Patel.
Instead, the deputy slot went to podcaster and former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino, a loyal Trump ally who has built a strong following with his hard-hitting commentary.
But Pirro did not step back from public service. She went on to take charge of the U.S. attorney’s office in the District of Columbia — a powerful perch at a time when Washington, D.C., has struggled with surging crime. Thrush noted that Pirro “has not run a prosecutor’s office in the iPhone era,” but she has brought decades of courtroom and administrative experience to the nation’s capital.
Her tenure has not been without friction. Like many newcomers to federal bureaucracy, Pirro has found the culture of government less nimble than the courtroom she once commanded.
Thrush wrote that she has been “aggravated by red tape, particularly requirements that she obtain approval of other officials before taking actions she would have done unilaterally as Westchester County district attorney two decades ago.”
Still, Pirro has made clear where her priorities lie: stamping out violent crime in Washington. On Fox & Friends Weekend, she criticized demonstrators who opposed the White House’s decision to assume greater control over D.C.’s police force.
“You know what? Go to D.C. Experience D.C! I want you to go there — go right ahead!” Pirro challenged the protesters. She insisted that under Trump, the federal government was committed to restoring order. “But here’s what the president is gonna do. He’s gonna make a difference, we’re gonna change the laws. We’ve got liberal judges we’ve got liberal laws — everything’s gonna change.”
Pirro also questioned the sincerity of the protests, suggesting that activists “are getting paid.” But she dismissed their relevance. “But, you know what? Nobody cares! Because we’re going to do our job. Donald Trump knows — President Trump knows what he’s doing, and right now, they don’t matter.”
Though it remains unclear whether Pirro “hopes to ascend” to a larger Justice Department role, her current position has already placed her at the center of one of the nation’s most pressing challenges.
Her rejection of a deputy’s chair at the FBI has not diminished her influence; if anything, it has reinforced her reputation as a no-nonsense prosecutor determined to take on crime — and willing to defy Washington conventions in the process.
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