Pirro was upset that her ex-husband Albert J. Pirro Jr. was not on Trump’s final pardon list that came out on Wednesday morning, and that message was conveyed to the White House and its former resident, according to one former White House adviser. Albert Pirro was convicted of conspiracy and tax evasion after wrongly deducting $ 1.2 million from his personal expenses on company casualties.
A separate source familiar with the matter told CNN that Albert Pirro was not on the pardon radar before Wednesday morning. It was not until the middle of the morning of that day that the advisers, who were in the midst of releasing their duties for the new administration, were informed that this needed to be done.
The request came as a complete surprise and had advisers struggling to make it happen before the midday deadline, when Trump’s term ended.
Minutes after Trump landed in Florida after his last flight aboard Air Force One from Washington, now former White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere released a statement announcing that “Today, President Donald J. Trump granted total forgiveness to Albert J. Pirro, Jr. “
Irena Briganti, Fox News’ executive vice president of corporate communications, did not respond to a request for comment.
Pirro took aim at Omar – one of the few Muslim members of Congress – when he noticed the religious coverage on the head of the Minnesotan.
“Think about it: Omar wears a hijab,” said Pirro. “Is her adherence to this Islamic doctrine indicative of her adherence to Sharia law, which in itself is antithetical to the United States Constitution?”
Her comments prompted Fox to say, “We strongly condemn Jeanine Pirro’s comments” and that the opinions she expressed “do not reflect those of the network and deal with the matter directly with her”.
Brian Stelter of CNN, Betsy Klein, Kevin Liptak and Kaitlan Collins contributed to this report.