'Reckless maniac': Former Fox News executive privately said Jeanine Pirro was 'nuts'

President Donald Trump has officially named Fox News personality Jeanine Pirro to be interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia — one of the most vaunted positions in the Department of Justice. And now, new details are emerging about what Pirro's former colleagues privately thought of her.

Before Trump named her as his administration's chief prosecutor in Washington D.C., Pirro was known for her adulation of Trump and her insistence on spreading baseless disinformation about the 2020 election on Fox News' airwaves. On Thursday, liberal research group Media Matters highlighted several emails that a Fox News executive sent as the network was in the midst of tense litigation with voting machine company Dominion Voting Systems.

The emails, which became public in 2023, show executives privately fretting about Pirro amplifying unproven conspiracy theories about Trump's loss to former President Joe Biden, and expressing doubt in Pirro's judgment. Executive David Clark, who oversaw Pirro's show, called her a "reckless maniac" who was "nuts."

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In another exchange, Fox executive Jerry Andrews forwarded Pirro's planned monologue for a November 2020 episode of "Justice with Judge Jeanine" to fellow executive Meade Cooper in an attempt to sound the alarm about the claims she was making on the air.

"[The monologue is] rife w[ith] conspiracy theories and bs and is yet another example why this woman should never be on live television," Andrews wrote. He also told Clark that Pirro's monologue was "completely crazy."

Fox News ultimately settled the Dominion lawsuit for $787 million in 2023. Clark retired that same year, though Andrews and Cooper still maintain executive vice president roles at Fox News, according to their LinkedIn profiles. Despite her bosses' concerns about her claims, Pirro was ultimately promoted to a guest host role on Fox News primetime show "The Five," and makes roughly $3 million per year.

Pirro is the replacement for former interim U.S. Attorney Ed Martin, whose nomination was withdrawn after multiple Republican senators said they planned to vote against his confirmation. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he took issue with Martin's warmth toward participants in the January 6, 2021 siege of the U.S. Capitol.

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Click here to read Media Matters' full report.