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Jeanine Ferris Pirro (born June 2, 1951) is an American television host, author, and a former
New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...
judge, prosecutor, and politician. Pirro was the host of Fox News Channel's '' Justice with Judge Jeanine'' until 2022 when she became a co-host of '' The Five''. She was a frequent contributor to
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, including regular appearances on ''
The Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It ...
''. She was also the first female judge elected in
Westchester County Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population ...
, New York. Pirro was elected the first female district attorney of Westchester County. As district attorney, Pirro gained visibility in cases of
domestic abuse Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for '' intimate partne ...
and crimes against the elderly. Pirro briefly sought the Republican nomination for
United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...
to run against
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
in 2006, but dropped out to accept the nomination for
New York Attorney General The attorney general of New York is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of New York and head of the Department of Law of the state government. The office has been in existence in some form since 1626, under the Dutch colonial government o ...
; she lost the general election to Democrat
Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( ; ; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cu ...
. In 2018, she wrote the book '' Liars, Leakers, and Liberals: The Case Against the Anti-Trump Conspiracy''. Pirro was named as a defendant in a February 2021 defamation lawsuit by Smartmatic, in relation to false claims of election fraud in the 2020 United States presidential election, though the claims against her were dismissed by a judge in March 2022.


Early life

Jeanine Ferris was born and raised in Elmira, New York, the daughter of Lebanese-American parents. Her father was a mobile-home salesman, and her mother was a department-store
model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...
who spent much of her childhood in Beirut. Her parents were
Maronite Catholics The Maronite Church is an Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic ''sui iuris'' particular church in full communion with the pope and the worldwide Catholic Church, with self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. Th ...
. Pirro knew she wanted to be an attorney from the age of six. She graduated from Notre Dame High School in Elmira in three years, interning in the Chemung County District Attorney's office during her time in high school. Pirro then graduated with a
Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...
from the
University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 18 ...
. She received her J.D. degree at
Albany Law School Albany Law School is a private law school in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1851 and is the oldest independent law school in the nation. It is accredited by the American Bar Association and has an affiliation agreement with University at Al ...
of
Union University Union University is a private Baptist Christian university in Jackson, Tennessee, with additional campuses in Germantown and Hendersonville. The university is affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Convention (Southern Baptist Convention). It is ...
in 1975, where she was an editor of the
law review A law review or law journal is a scholarly journal or publication that focuses on legal issues. A law review is a type of legal periodical. Law reviews are a source of research, imbedded with analyzed and referenced legal topics; they also pr ...
.


Westchester County law career


Assistant District Attorney

In 1975, District Attorney Carl Vergari appointed Pirro to the position of Assistant District Attorney of
Westchester County Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population ...
in New York State, where she began her career by writing appeals and handling minor cases. In 1977, Pirro approached Vergari and requested that he apply for a federal grant for local district attorney's offices to establish bureaus that specialized in domestic violence. She hoped that Vergari would take advantage of potential funding, as well as a 1977 change in New York law that moved many domestic violence cases from family court to criminal court. Vergari agreed to apply for the grant, and his office became one of four in the nation to win the grant. In 1978, he appointed Pirro to be the first chief of the new Domestic Violence and Child Abuse Bureau. Pirro was known to be an aggressive bureau chief. Due to possible coercion, she had a strict policy against dropping cases at a victim's request. Many people praised Pirro for her passion as Domestic Violence Bureau Chief, but she attracted increasing criticism from some colleagues for what they considered her "attention-grabbing" behavior and violations of tradition. On multiple occasions, Chief District Attorney Vergari spoke to Pirro concerning her violation of office policy. She had issued press releases with her own name—and not Vergari's—on top. The relationship between Pirro and Vergari disintegrated in the late 1980s, after Pirro claimed sole responsibility for the establishment of the Domestic Violence and Child Abuse Bureau. On June 1, 1990, just five months prior to Pirro's first appearance on the ballot for County Court Judge, she attracted widespread attention for rushing to conduct a bedside investigation of Maria Amaya at the Intensive Care Unit of United Hospital in
Port Chester Port Chester is a village in the U.S. state of New York and the largest part of the town of Rye in Westchester County by population. At the 2010 U.S. census, the village of Port Chester had a population of 28,967 and was the fifth-most populou ...
. Amaya had been charged with four counts of second-degree murder for the deaths of her four children. She was a 36-year-old immigrant from El Salvador who had a history of being hospitalized for mental issues. Amaya had killed the four children and attempted suicide, believing that they were being corrupted by drugs and sex. Vergari had served as district attorney for Pirro's entire tenure as an assistant district attorney and her time on the bench. In 1999, he critiqued Pirro as "bright and capable" and someone who "plays hardball seeking publicity," but who was also "very self-centered in everything she does." While recognized for her prosecution of domestic violence, she was criticized for her relative prosecutorial absence in bringing charges involving major public corruption or
organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...
. These criticisms intensified when Pirro's husband was later convicted of several felonies tied to
organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...
, including tax evasion and conspiracy. "One would have to believe that there's no organized crime in Westchester County, not a single corrupt official, and every union in this county is as clean as the driven snow," according to William I. Aronwald, who headed the Federal Organized Crime Strike Force during the 1970s and who was targeted for assassination by
Colombo crime family The Colombo crime family (, ) is an Italian American Mafia crime family and is the youngest of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City within the criminal organization known as the American Mafia. It was duri ...
head
Carmine Persico Carmine John Persico Jr. (; August 8, 1933 – March 7, 2019), also known as "Junior", "The Snake" and "Immortal", was an American mobster and the longtime boss of the Colombo crime family in New York City from 1973 until his death in 2019. He h ...
. During a 1986 abortive campaign for Lieutenant Governor of New York, Pirro boasted to have never lost a case in "about 50 trials." This number was disputed when presented in 2005 to colleagues, who said that the real number of trials personally handled by Pirro "wasn't more than 10." Pirro's then-spokesman, Anne Marie Corbalis, contended only that Pirro had a "100% felony conviction rate" as an Assistant District Attorney.


Court Judge

Pirro left the District Attorney's office after her November 1990 election as a judge of the Westchester County Court. She had successfully run on the Republican and
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
party lines against Democratic nominee and New Castle Town Justice Lawrence D. Lenihan and Right to Life Party nominee August C. Nimphius, Jr. When she was sworn in on January 1, 1991, Pirro became Westchester County's first female judge. She was a judge for two years.


District Attorney

In November 1993, Pirro was elected Westchester County District Attorney; she was the first woman to hold that position. She was re-elected in 1997 and 2001. On May 23, 2005, Pirro announced that she would not seek re-election to a fourth term as Westchester County District Attorney. On December 31, 1993—within hours of Pirro's midnight inauguration as District Attorney— Scripps newspaper heiress Anne Scripps Douglas was savagely bludgeoned in the head with a hammer by her estranged husband, Scott Douglas, as she slept in their Bronxville, New York, home. By the time police arrived, Scott Douglas had fled the scene. Anne Scripps Douglas died in the hospital on January 6. Scott Douglas subsequently committed suicide by jumping off the Tappan Zee Bridge. Pirro, already known as a passionate prosecutor of domestic violence cases, was a frequent presence in the media during the period between the murder and when Scott Douglas's body washed ashore in Riverdale in early March 1994. This increase in Pirro's national profile led to her surfacing as a frequent contributor on network and cable television news in June 1994, when O.J. Simpson was arrested for the murder of his ex-wife, appearing frequently as an analyst on '' Nightline'', ''
Larry King Live ''Larry King Live'' was an American television talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was the channel's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly. Mainly aired from CNN's Los Angeles ...
'', and '' Geraldo''. Within months of taking office, Pirro undertook a costly renovation to the district attorney's facilities and expanded to an additional floor of the county courthouse. The largest expenses were a new kitchenette and a media room, costing $20,000, to assist Pirro's growing profile; additional expenditures were made to remodel her personal office with mahogany. Pirro was the first female president of the New York State District Attorneys Association. Also while district attorney, she was appointed by then-Governor
George Pataki George Elmer Pataki (; born June 24, 1945) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 53rd governor of New York from 1995 to 2006. An attorney by profession, Pataki was elected mayor of his hometown of Peekskill, New York, and went on ...
to chair the New York State Commission on Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board. Its report and recommendations resulted in legislation passing that enhanced protections of, and safeguards for, the victims of domestic abuse. During her tenure as district attorney, she repeatedly refused to reopen the case of the murder of Angela Correa by Jeffrey Deskovic. In 1990, Deskovic was falsely convicted of killing the then-15-year-old Correa, and spent 16 years in prison before he was exonerated by DNA evidence; the real killer eventually confessed to the crime. Deskovic later won a $41.6 million lawsuit against Daniel Stephens and Westchester County for his wrongful conviction.


Statewide political career


1986 Lieutenant Gubernatorial candidacy

On May 26, 1986, Pirro, then an assistant district attorney, was announced as the running mate of
Westchester County Executive The Westchester County Executive is the head of the executive branch of the Westchester County, New York, government. The current county executive is George Latimer. The county executive has power to veto acts of Westchester County Board of Legis ...
and presumptive Republican gubernatorial nominee Andrew O'Rourke. Pirro was selected by O'Rourke and New York State Republican Committee Chairman Anthony J. Colavita after nearly a dozen individuals declined the position, including Erie County Executive Ed Rutkowski, Hempstead Presiding Supervisor Thomas Gulotta, and the Executives of Broome and Oneida Counties. Colavita, who said at the press conference that he "had so many say 'no' to me (during the lieutenant governor search), it doesn't hurt anymore," pointed to Pirro's prosecutorial experience, ability to effectively use crime as an issue, Italian married name, youth, and status as a woman when asked about her strengths as a candidate. Pirro's selection frustrated many New York Republicans, with Assembly Minority Leader
Clarence D. Rappleyea Jr. Clarence D. Rappleyea Jr. (November 2, 1933 – September 4, 2016) was an American lawyer and politician from New York (state), New York. Biography Rappleyea Jr. was born on November 2, 1933, in Norwich, New York, Norwich, Chenango County, New Y ...
traveling on May 27 from Albany to the first night of the State Republican Committee's Nominating Convention in Syracuse, to tell O'Rourke and Colavita that his conference was concerned by Pirro's lack of political experience or statewide stature. Many Republicans also worried that if Pirro were nominated, their ticket would be too geographically dominated by downstate and the suburbs, with O'Rourke, like Pirro, being from Westchester, and the presumptive nominees for attorney general, Peter King and United States Senate, Alfonse D'Amato both hailing from Nassau County. On May 28, just one day prior to the scheduled vote for the lieutenant gubernatorial nomination at the state party convention in Syracuse, Pirro announced her withdrawal from the race, saying that her husband could not disclose his legal clients or the couple's business interests (later revealed to have been her husband's partial ownership of a Connecticut garbage hauling company with alleged mafia connections),She's a Politician. He Avoided Attention. Not Anymore
''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
, Joseph Berger, April 17, 1997. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
and that many of his clients did business with the state, which would make it "virtually impossible" for her to serve as Lieutenant Governor. Pirro had privately informed O'Rourke and Colavita of her decision during the evening of May 27, and the two were generally supportive, telling the press that her departure had nothing to do with Rappleyea's intervention. Pirro was replaced just six hours after her announcement by Michael Kavanagh, the District Attorney of
Ulster County Ulster County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. It is situated along the Hudson River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 181,851. The county seat is Kingston. The county is named after the Irish province of Ulster. History ...
.


2006 U.S. Senate campaign

On August 10, 2005, Pirro announced that she would seek the Republican nomination to challenge first-term incumbent senator
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
, a Democrat, in the 2006 election for U.S. Senator from New York. Other Republicans who announced campaigns for the nomination were John Spencer, a former mayor of
Yonkers Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York (state), New York, after New York City and Buffalo, New York, Buffalo. The popul ...
, William Brenner, an attorney in Sullivan County, and attorney Edward Cox, the son-in-law of former president
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
. In a widely publicized moment when she was declaring her candidacy, Pirro misplaced page 10 of her speech and went silent for 32 seconds, something that was widely considered to have damaged her campaign before it even started. During an appearance at the Crime Victims Resource Center, Pirro described herself this way: "I am
red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...
on
fiscal policy In economics and political science, fiscal policy is the use of government revenue collection (taxes or tax cuts) and expenditure to influence a country's economy. The use of government revenue expenditures to influence macroeconomic variab ...
. I am
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
and I support the Bush tax cut... I have broad
blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...
stripes when it comes to social issues... I am a woman who is a
moderate Moderate is an ideological category which designates a rejection of radical or extreme views, especially in regard to politics and religion. A moderate is considered someone occupying any mainstream position avoiding extreme views. In American ...
in New York." Republican governor
George Pataki George Elmer Pataki (; born June 24, 1945) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 53rd governor of New York from 1995 to 2006. An attorney by profession, Pataki was elected mayor of his hometown of Peekskill, New York, and went on ...
's endorsement of Pirro caused Cox to withdraw from the race, leaving Pirro as the likely nominee. Donors to Pirro's political campaign included designer
Tommy Hilfiger Thomas Jacob Hilfiger ( /hɪlˈfɪgər/; born March 24, 1951) is an American fashion designer and the founder of Tommy Hilfiger Corporation. After starting his career by co-founding a chain of jeans/fashion stores called People's Place in upst ...
(also a native of Elmira) and
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
, as well as contractors and real estate executives who had done business with her husband. Trump spoke highly of her husband at the time, saying: "Al has a good sense of the law and what's practical and a lot of common sense." On December 21, 2005, Pirro dropped out of the Senate race after continuing pressure from party chiefs. This decision was reached after a lagging fundraising effort, and polls that showed she would be easily defeated by Clinton (a
Quinnipiac University Quinnipiac University () is a private university in Hamden, Connecticut. The university grants undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees through its College of Arts and Sciences, School of Business, School of Engineering, School of C ...
poll forecast Pirro would lose to Clinton 62 percent to 30 percent). In a statement, she said, "I have decided that my law enforcement background better qualifies me for a race for New York State attorney general than a race for the United States Senate." Spencer was eventually chosen as the Republican Party's nominee for the U.S. Senate. During her four-month campaign, the Pirro campaign racked up $600,000 in debt to campaign vendors. By 2019, debts to vendors remained unpaid.


2006 State Attorney General campaign

On May 31, 2006, Pirro was unopposed for the nomination and became the Republican Party's official candidate for Attorney General of New York by acclamation at the state GOP convention. She also received the nominations of the New York
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
and
Independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...
Parties. Pirro lost the general election to the Democratic nominee, former Clinton
Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and Ur ...
Secretary and future Governor
Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( ; ; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cu ...
58%–39%.


Books

Pirro is the author of six books, two of which are crime novels. Her first book was 2003's ''To Punish and Protect: A DA's Fight Against a System That Coddles Criminals''. It was followed in 2004 by ''To Punish and Protect: Against a System That Coddles Criminals''. In 2012, Pirro's first fiction book, ''Sly Fox: A Dani Fox Novel'', was released as a crime and legal thriller, followed in 2014 by the second novel in the series, ''Clever Fox: A Dani Fox Novel''. Her book '' Liars, Leakers, and Liberals: The Case Against the Anti-Trump Conspiracy'' (2018) is a look inside the Presidency of Donald Trump, as well as the politics surrounding the anti-Trump movement. ''Radicals, Resistance, and Revenge: The Left's Plot to Remake America'' (2019) is described as "the latest chapter in the unfolding liberal attack on our most basic values." Her book ''Don't Lie to Me: and Stop Trying to Steal Our Freedom'' was published on September 23, 2020.


Media career

Pirro has been a regular contributor to the syndicated morning talk show '' The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet''. She has been a guest analyst on ''Today'', Fox NY ''Good Day New York''. She is a
Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
legal analyst appearing on various shows, and has guest-hosted shows such as ''Larry King Live'', ''The Joy Behar Show'', and ''Geraldo at Large''. She was a frequent guest on Fox's late-night satire show ''
Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld ''Red Eye'', also known as ''Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld'' from 2007 to 2015 and ''Red Eye w/ Tom Shillue'' from 2015 to 2017, was an American late-night/early-morning satirical talk show on Fox News, which aired at 3:00 a.m. ET Tuesday throu ...
''. In 2003, Pirro released the nonfiction book ''To Punish and Protect'', describing life inside the criminal justice system. In 2012, with the assistance of author
Pete Earley Pete Earley (born September 5, 1951) is an American journalist and author who has written non-fiction books and novels. Career Born in Douglas, Arizona, Earley became a ''Washington Post'' reporter and also wrote books about the Aldrich Ames ...
, Pirro wrote the novel ''Sly Fox'' based on her own experiences as a 25-year-old assistant district attorney in Westchester. Pirro appears in the HBO six-part serial '' The Jinx'', recounting her perspective on the 1983 disappearance of Kathie Durst, a high-profile case for which she was the investigating attorney. Pirro was the host of the American
reality Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within a system, as opposed to that which is only imaginary. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, indicating their existence. In physical terms, r ...
prime time
court show A court show (also known as a judge show, legal/courtroom program, courtroom series, or judicial show) is a broadcast programming subgenre of either legal dramas or reality legal programming. Court shows present content mainly in the form of lega ...
''
You the Jury ''You the Jury'' is an American reality prime time court show which aired on Fox as a live program, where high-profile civil cases were re-enacted with lawyers known for working on high-profile cases, along with a live audience and viewer vot ...
'', canceled after two episodes.


''Judge Jeanine Pirro'' on The CW

On May 5, 2008,
The CW Television Network ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
announced that Pirro would host a weekday television show to be named '' Judge Jeanine Pirro'', part of the network's CW Daytime lineup, with two episodes airing daily. The show was distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television, and was carried by default on all CW affiliate stations. ''Judge Jeanine Pirro'' was cleared for a second season beginning in fall 2009. Unlike its first season, the second season, which began in the fall of 2009, was not exclusive to CW affiliates. In 2010 the show was nominated for Outstanding Legal/Courtroom Program at the
37th Daytime Emmy Awards The 37th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, June 27, 2010, at the Las Vegas Hilton, and were televised on CBS. The Daytime Entertainment Creative Arts Emmy Awards were presented two days earlier on June 25 at the Westin Bonaventure H ...
, and in 2011 it won that category at the
38th Daytime Emmy Awards The 38th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, June 19, 2011, at the Las Vegas Hilton, and were televised on CBS. The Daytime Entertainment Creative Arts Emmy Awards were presented two days earlier on June 17 at the Westin Bonaventur ...
. In September 2011 the show was canceled due to low ratings.


''Justice with Judge Jeanine'' on Fox News

Pirro is the host of Fox News' '' Justice with Judge Jeanine'', which premiered in January 2011. The program airs on weekends and focuses on the big legal stories of the week. In 2014, Pirro claimed
ISIL An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...
leader
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ( ar, أبو بكر البغدادي, ʾAbū Bakr al-Baḡdādī; born Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim Ali Muhammad al-Badri al-Samarrai ( ar, إبراهيم عواد إبراهيم علي محمد البدري السامرائي, ʾIb ...
was "released by Obama in 2009". However, Baghdadi was held in custody until 2004, when he was released under the Bush administration. In March 2019, on her show ''Justice with Judge Jeanine'' Pirro criticized Rep. Ilhan Omar for questioning the loyalty of American Jews to the US, by suggesting that Omar's Muslim faith meant she was more loyal to Sharia law than the US Constitution. Pirro said, "Omar wears a hijab which according to the
Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...
33:59 tells women to cover so they won't get molested. Is her adherence to this Islamic doctrine indicative of her adherence to Sharia law, which in itself is antithetical to the United States constitution?" Fox News strongly condemned Pirro's statement. Pirro did not apologize for her remarks, and said that she intended to "start a debate." On March 16, 2019, Fox News decided not to air her show, replacing it with a rebroadcast of a ''Scandalous'' episode in its time slot.
CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
reported on March 17 that Pirro had been suspended by Fox News, and President Trump wrote on Twitter: "Bring back @JudgeJeanine Pirro. Stop working soooo hard on being politically correct, which will only bring you down, and continue to fight for our Country." ''Justice with Judge Jeanine'' resumed airing on March 30, 2019. In March 2020, she hosted the show from home due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
. She did not appear on air for the first 15 minutes citing "technical difficulties", with Jackie Ibañez covering for her, and when Pirro finally appeared, she was in a disheveled state, slurring her speech, causing widespread speculation that she was
inebriated Alcohol intoxication, also known as alcohol poisoning, commonly described as drunkenness or inebriation, is the negative behavior and physical effects caused by a recent consumption of alcohol. In addition to the toxicity of ethanol, the main ps ...
. After one commercial break, she was even seen putting aside a drink with a straw. After the 2020 United States presidential election, Pirro was an outspoken proponent on her program of baseless allegations involving voting machine fraud that allegedly stole the election from Donald Trump. Hosts Lou Dobbs and Maria Bartiromo also promoted falsehoods on their programs. Smartmatic, a voting machine company that had been baselessly accused of conspiring with competitor
Dominion Voting Systems Dominion Voting Systems Corporation is a company that sells electronic voting hardware and software, including voting machines and tabulators, in the United States and Canada. The company's headquarters are in Toronto, Ontario, and Denver, Colo ...
to rig the election, sent Fox News a letter in December 2020 demanding retractions that "must be published on multiple occasions" so as to "match the attention and audience targeted with the original defamatory publications." The three programs each ran the same video segment refuting the baseless allegations days later, though none of the three hosts personally issued retractions. On January 12, 2022, it was announced that Pirro would be a permanent co-host on '' The Five'' starting January 24, and ending ''Justice''.


Political positions


Trump administration

Pirro supported Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential race, while also noting that she was "infuriated" by some of his behaviors. After the release of the ''Access Hollywood'' tape, Pirro defended Trump, stating "I have been involved in a million situations with him and his children. He has always been a gentleman." After Trump's election, Pirro was known for delivering fiery defenses of the president. ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' described her show as "almost universally positive about Trump," and ''Politico'' described her coverage of Trump as "gushing." According to ''Politico'', "From the outset of the administration, she has used her TV platform to hammer the president's critics and to ding his allies, including Sessions, as insufficiently loyal." In her televised programs and in private meetings with Trump at the White House, Pirro "steadfastly encouraged Trump to press harder on his agenda of disruption and provocation." In 2017, Pirro called for the arrest of individuals who cooperated with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election in favor of Trump. Pirro called for government agencies to be "cleansed" of critics of the president; she called for Deputy FBI Director
Andrew McCabe Andrew George McCabe (born March 18, 1968) is an American attorney who served as the Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from February 2016 to March 2018 and as the acting Director of the FBI from May 9, 2017, to Augus ...
and
Peter Strzok Peter Paul Strzok II (, like ''struck''; born March 7, 1970) is a former United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent. He was the Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI's Counterintelligence Division and led the investigation into R ...
to be arrested, and appeared to suggest that Mueller, former FBI director James B. Comey, and Associate Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr all be arrested as well. Pirro's comments were part of a broader push by Trump's allies in the media to delegitimize the Mueller probe and other investigations into Trump and his administration. In February 2018, after two senior Trump administration officials resigned due to domestic abuse allegations, Pirro suggested that
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
's policies were to blame for the two domestic abuse scandals. In May 2018, Pirro said that Trump had "fulfilled" a "biblical prophecy" by moving the US embassy in Israel to
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
. In June 2018, Pirro said Trump's pardon of conservative activist
Dinesh D'Souza Dinesh Joseph D'Souza (; born April 25, 1961) is an Indian-American right-wing political commentator, author, filmmaker, and conspiracy theorist. He has written over a dozen books, several of them ''New York Times'' best-sellers. In 2012, D' ...
, who was convicted of "illegal campaign contributions" to a college friend, to whom he received support, was "fantastic news", as she believes D'Souza was singled out for prosecution for his politics by the FBI for having produced two political documentary movies: ''Hillary's America'' and ''Obama's America''. Later that month, ''Politico'' reported that Pirro had, since late 2016, repeatedly told the Trump administration about her interest in becoming the Attorney General. On her show, Pirro had referred to Attorney General
Jeff Sessions Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III (born December 24, 1946) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 84th United States Attorney General from 2017 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as United States ...
as "the most dangerous man in America." In July 2018, after Trump was widely criticized, including by numerous prominent conservatives, for refusing to condemn Russian interference in the 2016 election, because it would have gained little leeway, while standing on stage with
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
in
Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...
, Pirro defended Trump. Pirro said, "What was he supposed to do, take a gun out and shoot Putin?" That same month, Trump posed with Pirro and her new book, '' Liars, Leakers, and Liberals: The Case Against the Anti-Trump Conspiracy'', in the Oval Office. That Trump would promote the book of a pro-Trump advocate raised questions about potential ethics violations. ''
Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...
'' book critic Carlos Lozada described the book as a "sycophantic" and "gushing" pro-Trump book. PolitiFact found that Pirro's assertion in the book that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had announced in February 2018 that "the Russia collusion investigation is over" was false; Rosenstein never said it and the progression of the Russia probe since February 2018 demonstrated otherwise. In September 2018, while Supreme Court nominee
Brett Kavanaugh Brett Michael Kavanaugh ( ; born February 12, 1965) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President Donald Trump on July 9, 2018, and has served since ...
faced scrutiny over sexual assault allegations, Pirro referred to the Democratic Party as "demon-rats". On January 12, 2019, while on Fox, Pirro took a call on-air from Trump in which he spoke for 20 minutes, claiming his former attorney Michael Cohen fabricated stories to reduce the length of his expected sentence. Trump conjectured Cohen said, "I have an idea, I'll give you some information on the president," and he continued, "Well, there is no information." "He should give information maybe on his father-in-law, because that's the one that people want to look at." Pirro asked the name of Cohen's father-in-law, but Trump replied, though regarding the affairs of a private citizen, "I don't know, but you'll find out, and you'll look into it because nobody knows what's going on over there." The father-in-law, Fima Shusterman, owned condos both at
Trump Tower Trump Tower is a 58-story, mixed-use skyscraper at 721–725 Fifth Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, between East 56th and 57th Streets. The building contains the headquarters for the Trump Organization, as well ...
and another in a Trump development near
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
. In November 2019, she described Trump as "almost superhuman". In December 2019, she suggested that Trump had made it possible for people to say " Merry Christmas" again. In February 2020, Pirro predicted that the impeachment of Donald Trump would be so unpopular that Democrats would lose their majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2020 elections (which ultimately did not occur); ''
Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...
'' named Pirro's prediction one of "the most audacious, confident and spectacularly incorrect prognostications about the year".


Health care

Describing her own political positions in 2005, Pirro said, "I'm Republican red on fiscal policy with conservative beliefs on making tax cuts permanent, but I've got broad blue stripes on the social issues," during her campaign for the US Senate in New York. Her positions were described as politically moderate during her Senate run. Pirro supported a woman's right to an
abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...
, including U.S. taxpayer funding of abortion through
Medicaid Medicaid in the United States is a federal and state program that helps with healthcare costs for some people with limited income and resources. Medicaid also offers benefits not normally covered by Medicare, including nursing home care and per ...
in 2005, though she has been opposed to
late-term abortion Late termination of pregnancy, also referred to as late-term abortion, describes the termination of pregnancy by induced abortion during a late stage of gestation. In this context, ''late'' is not precisely defined, and different medical publicati ...
s.


LGBT rights

On the topic of
LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender ( LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, ...
, Pirro actively supported the passing of a New York hate crimes law which covered
sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...
as a protected class in 2000. She was outspoken in her support for anti-discrimination protections for LGBT people during her 2006 campaign for State Attorney General. Pirro supported
civil union A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...
s for same-sex couples. She also received an endorsement from the
Log Cabin Republicans The Log Cabin Republicans (LCR) is an organization within the Republican Party which advocates for equal rights for LGBT+ Americans. History Log Cabin Republicans was founded in 1977 in California as a rallying point for Republicans opposed t ...
. She did not support
same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...
; however, Pirro opposed attempts to amend the Constitution in order to ban same-sex marriage, claiming: "Make no mistake, if it does become the law of this state, I will fight to defend it". Also in 2006, she acknowledged she participated in a Pride Parade and in a Log Cabin Republicans political fundraising event. Eight years later, she had William Owens, a representative of the National Organization for Marriage and opponent of same-sex marriage, to interview, on her program. In November 2021, Pirro attended the Log Cabin Republicans' "Spirit of Lincoln Award" event.


Benghazi

In 2014, Pirro called for the impeachment of Barack Obama over the 2012 Benghazi attack.


Second Amendment

Of gun ownership, Pirro commented in December 2015:


Personal life

Pirro has two children with her former spouse Albert. Following their marriage, they moved to Harrison, New York, where Pirro began working as assistant district attorney and her husband began work as a lobbyist. Later in their marriage, but before their children were born, Albert was accused of fathering a daughter by a Florida woman he termed as extortionate and mentally unstable. After his denials and extensive court proceedings, DNA testing confirmed him as the father and he was ordered to begin child support payments in 1998.Now "grand" paternity woe for Pirro
''
New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...
'', Joe Mcgurk, September 18, 2002. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
Following her tenure as D.A. and judge, Pirro returned to the private sector and began a new career as a TV personality and commentator. In 1997, ''
People A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...
'' magazine named her one of its "50 Most Beautiful People". On February 23, 1999, Pirro's husband was indicted by the office of United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York on one count of conspiracy, four counts of tax evasion, and 28 counts of filing a false tax return for hiding over $1 million in personal income as business expenses between 1988 and 1997. That day, Pirro appeared with her husband at a press conference in response to the charges, criticizing the investigation as "invasive and hostile." New York Governor
George Pataki George Elmer Pataki (; born June 24, 1945) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 53rd governor of New York from 1995 to 2006. An attorney by profession, Pataki was elected mayor of his hometown of Peekskill, New York, and went on ...
released a statement saying that the Pirros had been personal friends for "a long time," and that he and his wife "wished them well." With the trial beginning on May 15, 2000, and closing arguments given on June 19, 2000, the jury found Pirro's husband guilty on June 23, 2000, on 23 of the charges brought against him and not guilty of 10. In November 2000, he was sentenced to 29 months in federal prison, but received some leniency in exchange for waiving his right to appeal. He served 17 months in prison, being released early for good behavior and participating in an alcoholism treatment program. In the midst of the trial, Jeanine Pirro had attacked the prosecution for bringing up matters which involved her, calling it a "desperate attempt by them to bring me into this wherever they can." Albert Pirro was pardoned by President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
on January 20, 2021, shortly before Trump left office. As a result of their "tumultuous" relationship, Pirro and her husband separated in 2007, with their divorce being finalized in 2013. In November 2017, Pirro was charged with speeding for driving 119 miles per hour in upstate New York. In July 2019, Pirro was named to the board of directors of the
cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternative ...
company HeavenlyRx, which manufactures CBD products. Said Pirro: "My interest in CBD stems from a curiosity after hearing people say how much they benefited from CBD.... Initially a skeptic, I now understand there are tremendous benefits outside the assembly line of traditional medical and pharmaceutical dictates". Pirro revealed in her 2018 book, '' Liars, Leakers, and Liberals: The Case Against the Anti-Trump Conspiracy'', that she was diagnosed with cancer in 2012. She is a practicing
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
.


Lawsuit

On February 4, 2021, Pirro was named in the complaint "Smartmatic Files $2.7 Billion Defamation Lawsuit Against Fox Corporation" The complaint states that "Fox News’ disinformation campaign had a direct and harmful impact on Smartmatic's ability to conduct business in the United States and around the world". Smartmatic claims that Fox News Network, Maria Bartiromo, Lou Dobbs, Jeanine Pirro, Rudy Giuliani and
Sidney Powell Sidney Katherine Powell (born 1955) is an American attorney, former federal prosecutor, and conspiracy theorist who attempted to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election, which led the State Bar of Texas to seek sanctions again ...
were primary sources of false information which were repeated by other media outlets, journalists, bloggers and influencers the world over. A New York State Supreme Court judge ruled in March 2022 that the suit against Fox News and others could proceed, though he dismissed allegations against Pirro.


See also

*
New Yorkers in journalism New York City has been called the media capital of the world. Many journalists work in Manhattan, reporting about international, American, business, entertainment, and New York metropolitan area-related matters. New Yorkers in journalism A ...


Notes


References


External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pirro, Jeanine 1951 births Living people Albany Law School alumni American politicians of Lebanese descent American women lawyers American critics of Islam Businesspeople in the cannabis industry Fox News people LGBT rights activists from the United States New York (state) lawyers New York (state) Republicans New York (state) state court judges Politicians from Elmira, New York Television judges University at Buffalo alumni Westchester County District Attorneys Politicians from Westchester County, New York Women in New York (state) politics American gun rights activists 21st-century American women