Jeanine Pirro Bounces Back Into the Trump Attack - Newsweek

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro appears to be making moves designed to appeal to President Donald Trump, months after a furious public rebuke from the president raised questions about her future.

In August, Trump hit out at Pirro after she had moved to drop charges against David Hearn, a former Olympian accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The Department of Justice (DOJ) then dismissed the case, saying that evidence showed Hearn was not responsible for damage to the pool’s lining.

But the president was furious by Pirro's decision. Trump told reporters at the time that he was "really disappointed" in the former Fox News host and longtime ally he handpicked to serve as the top federal prosecutor in the nation’s capital. He said she had "choked" and "folded like an umbrella."

Trump later said that he had not made a decision about whether Pirro would keep her job, raising questions about her position. The president has repeatedly sought prosecutions of his perceived political enemies, something Pirro's office has so far failed to deliver.

But, three months on from that dispute, Pirro remains in her role. She is increasingly making moves that align with Trump’s agenda. These include pursuing a probe against Minnesota Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar, a longtime target of the president’s, and tackling fraud against Americans.

Such moves, if successful, could lead to a striking comeback for Pirro, whose place in Trump's administration appeared extremely precarious just a few months ago.

"These actions appear to be designed to appease Trump and hold on to her job," Costas Panagopoulos, a professor of political science at Northeastern University, told Newsweek. "She was clearly on thin ice with Trump and she may have convinced him she'd prove her worth to him if he kept her in her role."

Panagopoulos said Pirro's fate "may depend on how recent moves play out and whether or not she suffers other major setbacks that reflect poorly on Trump or imply she's ineffective."

Newsweek has contacted Pirro's office for comment via email and is awaiting a response.

Earlier this month, Pirro confirmed that her office is handling a probe into Omar’s financial disclosures. This has put her at the forefront of an investigation into one of Trump’s biggest political foes.

That came after federal agents searched the Democratic congresswoman's home in Washington, D.C., as part of an ongoing investigation connected to Omar’s immigration paperwork.

Pirro spoke about her office’s probe in an interview on Fox News' America Reports, where she was asked about a previous review of Omar's financial disclosures by the Office of Congressional Conduct.

Pirro confirmed that the matter was also the subject of an investigation by her office. "It doesn't matter what the House does," she said. "We're looking at the facts. Based upon the facts, we'll follow them wherever they take us."

Grant Davis Reeher, a professor of political science at Syracuse University, told Newsweek that, if Pirro is able to successfully prosecute Omar, it would improve her standing with Trump.

"In terms of standing, the president does seem to give people a chance to bend to his will before he sends them packing. If she, again, gets some traction with Omar, that will resonate with him," he said.

Omar, a naturalized U.S. citizen, has denied wrongdoing and not been charged with any crime. She has accused the Trump administration of weaponizing federal law enforcement against its political opponents.

"Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement," Omar wrote on X. "For ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns.

"This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation. I will not be silenced."

Pirro has also attached herself to an issue that the White House has demanded action on: fraud targeting Americans.

She held a press briefing on Tuesday to announce charges against six alleged scammers and an expansion of the DOJ's Scam Center Strike Force to secure the country from scams perpetrated by foreign criminal organizations.

Pirro praised Trump during that briefing, saying: "In the last year, in response to the threat and with the support of President Trump, who has made and has the foresight to make this a priority for the administration, we put together the first-of-its-kind initiative."

She said the strike force has so far restrained more than $1 billion in cryptocurrency.

It came days after Trump said his administration made a "very big dent" in scams by foreign criminal networks that lure Americans into fraudulent investments.

"Federal law enforcement has been able to warn over 10,000 Americans targeted for victimization, and we've prevented $1.6 billion in losses at least this year," Trump said at a White House event on cybercrime prevention last week.

"Federal law enforcement has also frozen nearly $1 billion of cyber currency tied to foreign scammers."

Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here.