Jeanine Pirro sworn in as DC’s top federal prosecutor

CNN The U S attorney s office in Washington D C is hoping for a new era of relative calm as the top federal prosecutor in the nation s capital switches from one outspoken controversial ally of the president to another Former Fox News host and newly tapped interim U S Attorney Jeanine Pirro took her oath of office on Wednesday and now leads one of the greater part powerful federal prosecution offices in the country Pirro takes on a position that is under the microscope of Democrats Republicans and the Trump administration after Ed Martin her predecessor had his nomination withdrawn as it faltered on Capitol Hill over his praise of an alleged Nazi sympathizer his refusal to say there was violence at the U S Capitol riot and his comments denigrating police officers who defended the building that day Employees at the U S attorney s office are hoping that despite her inhabitants persona as a bellicose cable news host Pirro will bring a more stable leadership presence to the position responsible for running federal criminal investigations in D C Chosen D C prosecutors communicated CNN that under Martin managing the population comments by the interim U S attorney with continuing their work without interruption felt impossible Particular joked that they hope Pirro will focus on TV appearances to allow prosecutors to litigate cases without distractions Hopefully Thursday will be better than the past four months one official inside the office quipped of Pirro s first full day in the job But it s not yet clear how Pirro a former judge and district attorney for Westchester County in New York will handle the new role She has not held a position in the justice system since when she left the district attorney s office and began her career on television and as a longtime friend and staunch supporter of Trump particular prosecutors fear that she will continue in Martin s footsteps We re swapping a man for a woman nothing more one person commented The rest is the same Martin to remain in the community eye While Republican opposition to his nomination may have doomed his prospects of running the DC U S attorney s office Martin is staying in a leadership role at DOJ and his attention-grabbing approach to justice will stay in the limelight Martin whose highly populace and abrasive strategy drew national criticisms but endeared the president to him plans to continue his path of aggressively exacting revenge on behalf of the Trump administration in his new role at the DOJ atop the Weaponization Working Group In a news conference marking his final appearance at the U S attorney s office on Tuesday Martin announced that the group which was established on Bondi s first day to review law enforcement actions enacted under the Biden administration for any examples of politicized justice would be taking a more public-facing approach Martin announced that the starting point for their work would include probes into the work of special counsel Jack Smith and New York Attorney General Letitia James how the sweeping Jan -related prosecutions unfolded and whether the Biden administration was targeting Catholics And even if he can t find legal backing to bring charges Martin declared he hopes to publicly call them out There are chosen really bad actors chosen people that did several really bad things to the American people and if they can be charged we ll charge them Martin declared But if they can t be charged we will name them there should be people that are shamed And that s a fact that s the way things work Martin continued suggesting that is how he sees his role leading the weaponization group Martin s comments have caught the attention of lawyers representing former special counsel prosecutor Jay Bratt and helped underscore why he opted to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights when answering questions from the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday CNN s Paula Reid contributed to this analysis The-CNN-Wire Cable News Configuration Inc a Warner Bros Discovery Company All rights reserved Source