Politics
Watchdog group files bar complaints against Jeanine Pirro over attempt to indict Democratic lawmakers
The Legal Accountability Center claims the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia and her aides abused their power by seeking charges over a video addressing military members.
The short version
- The Legal Accountability Center has filed ethics complaints in New York and Virginia against Washington U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro and two of her lieutenants.
- The complaints allege that Pirro's office abused its power to seek "meritless" indictments against six Democratic lawmakers who appeared in a video advising troops to resist unlawful orders.
- In February, a federal grand jury in Washington refused to return indictments against the six lawmakers, a rejection that is historically rare.
Key facts
- The Legal Accountability Center filed bar complaints against U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, Carlton Davis, and Steven Vandervelden, accusing them of violating professional ethics.[PBS NewsHour · Associated Press]
- The complaints stem from the prosecutors' efforts to secure federal indictments against Senators Mark Kelly and Elissa Slotkin, along with four House Democrats.[PBS NewsHour · Associated Press]
- The six targeted lawmakers, all military or intelligence veterans, had released a video urging U.S. service members to reject orders they believed to be unlawful.[PBS NewsHour · Associated Press]
- President Donald Trump previously accused the lawmakers of sedition, declaring in a social media post that the act was punishable by death.[PBS NewsHour · Associated Press]
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's separate attempt to censure Senator Mark Kelly over the video was blocked by a district court judge, a decision Hegseth has appealed.[PBS NewsHour · Associated Press]
What remains uncertain
- A spokesperson for Pirro's office did not immediately issue a comment regarding the allegations.[PBS NewsHour · Associated Press]