U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro found herself caught flat-footed this week during a Washington news conference when a reporter pivoted from questions about teen mob violence to ask about the Trump administration’s $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund set up to compensate MAGA allies.
The news conference, held May 18, was called to address a string of so-called “teen takeover” incidents in the district including a chaotic scene at a Chipotle and featured Pirro alongside FBI and MPD officials, but reporters didn’t limit their questions to the unrest.
When one reporter raised the controversial fund, trying to ask about who else taxpayer money being funneled to Trump allies through what he described as the “weaponization announcement” might go to, Pirro appeared completely in the dark.
“I don’t know anything about this,” she said flatly.
The reporter pressed further, offering additional context — describing it as “the settlement money through the Trump IRS settlement” — but Pirro didn’t budge.
“You always ask these out of the … out of my lane questions,” she shot back.
It wasn’t the only awkward exchange of the afternoon.
When another reporter asked about City Councilman Trayon White, whose motion to have his federal charges of bribery recently were denied by a judge, Pirro was equally breezy.
Pirro claims White still remains on the city council despite his picture not appearing on a nearby poster board displaying the faces of council members.
Moments later, Pirro casually offered up White’s phone number.
“Yeah, he’s still on the city council. You want his number?” she quipped.
On the teen mob issue itself, Pirro appeared more in her element, touting the working relationship between local and federal law enforcement under the president’s “Make D.C. Safe and Beautiful” initiative.
“We’ve gotten into kind of a rhythm where we work together and we find that there are tremendous aspects of each other that we can utilize,” she said.
She also took a pointed shot at D.C. City Council members who have resisted calls for a curfew, warning them the political consequences could come back to bite them.
“When they go home and they punt on issues where the chief of police and the mayor believe it’s important,” Pirro said, “maybe they ought to think twice about it.”
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