Before she was a Fox News host, she pushed for pro-Trump election conspiracy theory, Jeanine Pirro, an ambitious New York politician whose career stagnated, recorded recordings to annoy her husband's ship to catch his ship.
Apocalypse swept Pirro's movement for the New York Attorney General nearly 20 years ago, which led to headlines on the city's tabloid's former page ("Bug This Love Boat!", which is the daily news cover).
The conversation took place in 2005 between Pirro and former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, a close ally of Rudy Giuliani's.
"What should I do, Bernie? Looking at him f--she every night?" Piro said, according to a 2006 transcript obtained by WNBC-TV's Jonathan Dienst. "What should I do? I can get on the boat. I will put F----G stuff on myself."
Since Pirro is President Donald Trump's interim prosecutor for Washington, D.C., her choice is that his selection is the choice of Donald Trump after the president withdraws the nomination of conservative activist Ed Martin, and the incident may be refocused.
Trump described her as “only alone” when he announced her choice as Martin’s successor.
In a sense, he is right: No other U.S. attorney nominee has been known to be federally investigated after being arrested on a videotape to capture cheating spouse in the bill.
U.S. attorneys in southern New York confirmed that Pirro had been investigated at the time, but no charges were filed.
Pirro is a Westchester County district attorney when she was chatted with Kerik on tape, who was investigated by the Bronx District Attorney’s Office.
According to WNBC, Pirro believes her then-husband, Albert Pirro, was using the family’s 26-foot boat, Christie, named after the couple’s daughter, to conduct sexual training with her then-girlfriend. Pirro seems frustrated because an employee of Kerik's security company is reluctant to plant a recording device on board.
"We can only say that if there is a problem, I'm renovating for our anniversary," WNBC said.
"But Jenny, I have the same problem as everyone," Kerick allegedly replied. "Everyone panics because it's you. I've gone all out of my limbs. I have two more people looking at this. It's a problem."
In a press conference after the WNBC report, emotional Pirro insisted that the recording device was not placed on the ship and exploded the federal investigation as a "waste of taxpayers' money."
“I said a lot, but what matters is what I did and what I didn’t do – what I did was vent,” said Piroro, who was running for the state attorney general at the time.
Two months after the video reveals that she lost to future Governor Andrew Cuomo on a landslide, marking the end of her political career.
What happened over the next twenty years is well known. Pirro became a TV star and one of Trump's most enthusiastic defenders.
In 2020, she repeatedly pushed for conspiracy theories on Fox News, covering Trump's election losses. During the lawsuit filed by the Dominion voting system, it was revealed that Pirro's executive producer made a blunt assessment of one of her monologues: "It's totally crazy."
Pirro's evolution from a once-proclaimed district attorney to the picky Trump booster reflects the trajectory of other magazine characters, most notably Giuliani.
Douglas Muzzio, a retired Baruke Academy political science professor with a wide understanding of New York politics, said Pirro is now in control of one of the country's foremost federal prosecutor's offices.
"If you would have told me 20 years ago or even 15 years ago that she would be in the position she is now, I wouldn't believe it," Muzio said. "I'm familiar with people who have a reputation and they deserve more work in terms of qualifications than Pirro."
White House spokesman Harrison Fields called Pirro a “highly respected, accomplished lawyer and judge” and “committed to President Trump’s agenda to restore security and justice in our nation’s capital.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi described Pirro as a “fareless advocate of the rule of law” and said she was “happy to have her on the Justice Department team because we once again ensure America is safe.”
Kerik did not respond to a request for comment.
In the decade before the videotape was released, Piro was regarded as a rising star in the Republican Party.
She was the first woman to be elected as a judge in 1990 and a district attorney in Westchester County in 1993. Her TV look and unique speech sound make her natural on TV.
She has a reputation as an active prosecutor and has won reelection twice. But she was plagued by reports of mob contacts and was forced to deal with a series of scandals involving her ex-husband.
Rich businessman and Republican fundraiser Albert Pirro was found guilty of conspiracy and tax evasion charges in 2000 and sentenced to 29 months in federal prison. The trial revealed the couple's luxurious lifestyle, Albert Pirro, according to the Daily News "Writing holiday home repairs, country club membership fees, paintings, luxury cars" which include two Ferraris - and family pet canned pigs with fences. ”
Five years later, the Daily News published a report saying a lieutenant in the Gambino criminal family was caught by the FBI wiretap, claiming that Albert Pirro discussed a pending case with his mob colleagues.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan investigated the claim but made no charges.
Albert Pirro denied that such a conversation happened, and Jeanine Pirro told the Daily News in May 2005: "I was surprised. It seemed incredible."
Three months later, in August 2005, Pirro announced that she would seek a Republican nomination in the Senate, challenging the time. Hillary Clinton. A few days later, when the Daily News reported that her six donors of organized crime wrote her nearly $12,000 campaign checks since 2003, her fledgling campaign took a hit.
"We will study the facts and make appropriate decisions on a case-by-case basis," her campaign spokesperson said at the time.
But these scandals are pale compared to Kerik's dialogue tape.
As part of the investigation, Kerik's phone was leaked to accept free renovations from the contractor's apartment and with a mob link when he served as a commissioner for the New York City Department of Corrections. He eventually pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors.
"Bernie talked to a friend in distress about family conflict. No discussion of illegality, and no violation was taken," Kerik's attorney Joseph Tacopina told the Daily News after leaked a phone transcription with Pirro.
At the time, Pirro's husband issued a statement through his attorney: "Al Pirro was angry at the actions of the U.S. attorney to launch a federal investigation into a federal marriage dispute."
Pirro separated from her husband in 2007. He was pardoned by Trump in 2021.
Trump also pardoned Carrick after being sentenced to three years in prison for federal tax fraud and false statements.
In a conversation with Kerik, Pirro lamented how her husband at the time influenced her political career.
Without him, she said, “I moved into the governor’s mansion.”