Watchdog files bar complaint against Jeanine Pirro over bid to indict 6
Democratic lawmakers
[August 26, 2026]
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
WASHINGTON (AP) — A legal watchdog says it filed bar complaints on
Tuesday accusing U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro and two lieutenants of
violating their ethical duties in seeking to charge six Democratic
lawmakers with federal crimes for appearing in a video that called on
troops to resist unlawful orders.
The Legal Accountability Center's bar complaints, filed in New York and
Virginia, 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.”
Tim Lauer, a spokesperson for Pirro's Washington-based office, noted
that it's a grand jury's job — not prosecutors' — to decide whether to
hand up an indictment.
“Attempting to weaponize the disciplinary process against prosecutors
for doing their jobs amounts to nothing more than a frivolous
complaint,” Lauer said in a statement.
In February, a grand jury in Washington refused to indict Sens. Mark
Kelly and Elissa Slotkin and four House Democrats for urging U.S.
service members to follow established military protocols and reject
orders they believe to be unlawful. All six lawmakers previously served
in the military or at intelligence agencies. Trump accused them of
sedition “punishable by DEATH” in a social media post.
A grand jury's refusal to return an indictment is extraordinarily rare,
but it has become increasingly common in Washington during Trump's
second term. Pirro's critics have accused her of pursuing other legally
dubious and politically motivated cases at the Republican president's
behest, such as the recently abandoned felony charge against a former
Olympian who was accused of defacing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting
Pool.
The center has filed complaints against other Trump administration
officials, including Ed Martin Jr., Pirro’s predecessor as U.S. Attorney
for the District of Columbia. Martin has been a leading figure in
Trump’s campaign to use the Justice Department to prosecute his
political opponents.
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U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro speaks during a news conference at the
Department of Justice, Dec. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex
Brandon, File)
In its complaint against Pirro, the center asks bar officials to
investigate whether she and her colleagues violated rules of
professional conduct for attorneys — and to “pursue appropriate
discipline” against them. Its complaint against Pirro says her
office had no legal basis for its “patently improper effort” to
secure an indictment against the six lawmakers.
“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,” the complaint says.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has tried to punish Kelly, a former
Navy pilot representing Arizona, for participating in the video.
Kelly sued in federal court to block the censure from Hegseth. A
district court judge ruled in his favor. Hegseth has asked an
appeals court to review the decision.
The center filed its complaint against Pirro and Vandervelden with a
grievance committee based in White Plains, New York. In New York,
the state Supreme Court’s appellate division governs ethical
complaints against attorneys. The center filed its complaint against
Davis with the Virginia State Bar.
“Prosecutors have enormous power, and with that power comes an
obligation to exercise independent legal judgment rather than use
the criminal justice system to carry out a president’s political
demands,” the center’s co-founder, Michael Teter, said in a
statement.
Pirro, who served as a county prosecutor and judge in New York, left
her Fox News hosting job to become the top federal prosecutor for
Washington last year.
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