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Pirro bar complaint
A legal watchdog filed bar complaints accusing U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro and two lieutenants of violating ethical duties in seeking to charge six Democratic lawmakers over a video urging troops to resist unlawful orders.
“filed bar complaints on Tuesday accusing U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro and two lieutenants”
The complaints were filed in New York and Virginia, and they claim Pirro and her subordinates, Carlton Davis and Steven Vandervelden, abused their prosecutorial powers to seek "meritless" indictments against President Donald Trump's "perceived political enemies."
The video at the center of the case featured six lawmakers, including Sens. Mark Kelly and Elissa Slotkin, and four House Democrats, all of whom previously served in the military or at intelligence agencies.
In February, a Washington grand jury refused to indict the six lawmakers for appearing in the video, after Trump accused them of sedition "punishable by DEATH" in a social media post.
Pirro’s office did not immediately comment on the allegations, while a spokesperson for Pirro’s Washington-based office said, "Attempting to weaponize the disciplinary process against prosecutors for doing their jobs amounts to nothing more than a frivolous complaint."
Quotes and dispute
The Legal Accountability Center’s complaint characterizes Pirro’s effort as a "patently improper" effort to secure an indictment, arguing there was no legal basis for pursuing charges after the grand jury refused to hand up an indictment.
In the complaint, the center says, "The only purpose could have been political animus and a desire to intimidate perceived enemies of the federal government and the President," who personally criticized the lawmakers’ video as seditious and punishable by death.
Tim Lauer, a spokesperson for Pirro’s Washington-based office, framed the dispute around process, saying, "The grand jury, not the prosecutor, decides whether to indict."
The Hill reported that a grand jury ultimately declined to bring charges related to the video, and it said prosecutors planned to charge the lawmakers under a law that forbids "interference with the loyalty, morale or discipline of the U.S. Armed Forces."
Rep. Jason Crow, one of the six lawmakers in the video, said Pirro was one of Trump’s "stooges" for bringing "bogus criminal charges" against him and the others.
What happens next
The bar complaints ask New York and Virginia bar officials to investigate whether Pirro and her colleagues violated rules of professional conduct for attorneys and to "pursue appropriate discipline" against them.
“to "pursue appropriate discipline" against them”
The Associated Press reported that the center filed its complaint against Pirro and Vandervelden with a grievance committee based in White Plains, New York, and it filed its complaint against Davis with the Virginia State Bar.
The dispute also intersects with other actions involving Mark Kelly, after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth tried to punish Kelly for participating in the video and Kelly sued in federal court to block the censure.
PBS reported that a district court judge ruled in Kelly’s favor, and it said Hegseth has asked an appeals court to review the decision.
Beyond the courtroom, the Hill said the Legal Accountability Center asked the New York court system’s Grievance Committee to investigate Pirro, arguing she violated rules of professional conduct while seeking to bring charges against the six lawmakers.