The Legal Accountability Center filed bar complaints on Tuesday against U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro and two of her subordinates, Carlton Davis and Steven Vandervelden, claiming they violated ethical duties in their pursuit of federal charges against six Democratic lawmakers. The complaints were filed in New York and Virginia. The lawmakers in question had appeared in a video urging U.S. service members to follow established military protocols and reject orders they believed to be unlawful.
According to the watchdog organization’s complaints, Pirro and her colleagues abused their prosecutorial powers to seek “meritless” indictments against individuals characterized as President Donald Trump’s “perceived political enemies.” In February, a grand jury in Washington declined to indict Senators Mark Kelly and Elissa Slotkin along with four House Democrats on the matter. All six lawmakers previously served in military or intelligence roles. Trump had accused them of sedition in a social media post.
Pirro’s office responded that grand juries, not prosecutors, bear responsibility for deciding whether to issue indictments. A spokesperson stated that attempting to use the disciplinary process against prosecutors for performing their duties amounts to “a frivolous complaint.” The refusal by a grand jury to return an indictment is described as extraordinarily rare, though observers note such occurrences have increased in Washington during Trump’s second term.
Critics of Pirro have pointed to other cases they characterize as legally questionable and politically motivated, including a recently abandoned felony charge against a former Olympian accused of defacing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The Legal Accountability Center has filed complaints against other Trump administration officials as well, including Pirro’s predecessor. The center’s complaint requests that bar officials investigate whether the prosecutors violated rules of professional conduct and pursue appropriate discipline if warranted.
Pirro previously worked as a county prosecutor and judge in New York before leaving her position as a Fox News host to become the top federal prosecutor for Washington last year.
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