Sonam Sheth is an Evening Politics Editor at Newsweek who is based in New York. She joined Newsweek in 2024 and previously worked at Business Insider and CNBC.
Sonam has extensive experience covering national security, foreign policy, elections, and stories at the intersection of law and politics.
Her work has been cited in The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, and others. She has also frequently appeared on national television and radio, including MSNBC, NBC News, BBC World News, BBC News radio, and more.
You can get in touch with Sonam at [email protected]. Languages: English, Hindi, and French.
Sonam Sheth andGabe Whisnant is a Breaking News Editor at Newsweek based in North Carolina. Prior to joining Newsweek in 2023, he directed daily publications in North and South Carolina. As an executive editor, Gabe led award-winning coverage of Charleston church shooter Dylan Roof’s capture in 2015, along with coverage of the Alex Murdaugh double murder trial. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. You can get in touch with Gabe by emailing [email protected]. Find him on Twitter @GabeWhisnant.
Evening Politics Editor
🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
President Donald Trump on Thursday tapped longtime Fox News host and former prosecutor Jeanine Pirro as the interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment via email on Thursday.
The Context
Trump’s elevation of Pirro, a staunch ally, to D.C.’s top prosecutorial role would come after the president told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday that Ed Martin—currently serving as D.C.’s interim U.S. attorney—will not be considered for the permanent role.
The president’s decision to pull Martin’s nomination came after Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said this week that he would not support Martin, effectively tanking his nomination because it meant he likely wouldn’t secure enough votes to advance before the full Senate.
What To Know
Trump posted on Truth Social on Thursday evening: “I am pleased to announce that Judge Jeanine Pirro will be appointed interim United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. Jeanine was Assistant District Attorney for Westchester County, New York, and then went on to serve as County Judge, and District Attorney, where she was the first woman ever to be elected to those positions.
He added: “During her time in office, Jeanine was a powerful crusader for victims of crime. Her establishment of the Domestic Violence Bureau in her Prosecutor’s Office was the first in the Nation. She excelled in all ways.”
Pirro has been a longtime Fox host and previously anchored the show “Justice With Judge Jeanine,” which covered big legal news stories and aired from 2011 to 2022.
The former prosecutor was an early supporter of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and has defended him through the slew of political and personal controversies he’s faced over the years, including the “Access Hollywood” scandal, in which he was caught on tape making lewd comments about women and saying that “when you’re a star, they let you do it.”
Pirro was suspended from Fox in 2019 after she suggested that Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, the first of two Muslim women in Congress, was not loyal to the U.S. Constitution.
The former judge also publicly supported Trump’s unfounded claim that the 2020 election, which Joe Biden won, was unfairly “rigged” against him and marred by widespread fraud. Pirro, along with other Fox News hosts, was named in a defamation lawsuit brought by the voting infrastructure company Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News over claims of election fraud that were broadcast on the network.
There is no evidence backing Trump’s allegations.
A source familiar with the president’s thinking told NBC News that Trump thinks Pirro is “highly qualified” to serve as interim U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., which is one of the most powerful U.S. attorney’s offices in the U.S. The district regularly oversees high-profile cases involving public corruption, white-collar crime, foreign lobbying and more.
What People Are Saying
Pirro compared Trump’s call to disrupt Congress’ certification of the 2020 election results to the Revolutionary War, saying three days before the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot: “These hungry, tired, cold, defeated soldiers knew that it was their moment to stand up and fight for freedom. To many, Jan. 6 is such a moment. As we are all being told to shut up and move on, Jan. 6 will tell us whether there are any in Congress willing to battle for the America that those soldiers fought for, the one that you and I believe in.”
Pirro condemned the riot after it took place, writing on Facebook: “I want to be clear…the actions at the United States Capitol three days ago were deplorable, reprehensible, outright criminal. These frightening and repulsive actions represent the most significant breach on our Capitol in over two hundred years.”
Trump said on Truth Social: “In addition to her Legal career, Jeanine previously hosted her own Fox News Show, Justice with Judge Jeanine, for ten years, and is currently Co-Host of The Five, one of the Highest Rated Shows on Television. 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. Congratulations Jeanine!”
