Trump Replaces Prosecutor Who Threatened Medical Marijuana Dispensary With Fox News Host Who Joined Cannabis Company’s Board

President Donald Trump has named a Fox News host with involvement in the cannabis industry to replace a U.S. attorney who threatened a Washington, D.C. medical marijuana dispensary with potential federal prosecution.

After the president pulled Ed Martin from consideration for the role, he announced on Thursday that he’s nominating Jeanine Pirro to assume the position on an acting basis. Despite her involvement in a CBD company, she’s previously indicated that she doesn’t necessarily support broader recreational marijuana legalization, however.

It was announced in 2019 that Pirro, host of “Justice with Judge Jeanine,” would become a board member of the CBD company HeavenlyRx.

This could be welcome news for cannabis advocates and stakeholders, as the prior nominee—whom Trump still spoke glowingly about after non-marijuana-related controversies derailed his nomination—made headlines after warning a D.C. medical cannabis dispensary about potential violations of federal law.

In contrast to her predecessor, Pirro told Marijuana Moment in 2019 that her “interest in CBD stems from a curiosity after hearing people say how much they benefited from CBD.”

Pirro, who previously served as a New York judge and district attorney, said at the time that she was “excited to be a part of the opportunity for people to access fantastic wellness options that are both natural and physically and emotionally beneficial.”

“Initially a skeptic, I now understand there are tremendous benefits outside the assembly line of traditional medical and pharmaceutical dictates,” she said.

Pirro—on her CW show “Judge Jeanine Pirro” from 2008-2011—also took on several marijuana-related cases, but she didn’t appear to weigh in on substantive policy issues around cannabis.

The announcement that Pirro was joining a CBD company’s board came shortly after the host’s show was suspended by Fox News, a move that reportedly stemmed from her suggestion that the Muslim faith of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) was “antithetical” to the U.S. Constitution. Fox subsequently condemned the remarks, but her show was reinstated about two weeks after the controversy.

While hemp and its derivatives were legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill that Trump signed into law during his first term, Pirro has previously indicated she won’t to be making the case for ending cannabis prohibition more broadly.

@mamajaelynn medical marijuana is different than legalizing and u know it mama.

— Jeanine Pirro (@JudgeJeanine) March 31, 2012

“Medical marijuana is different than legalizing,” she said in response to a post on Twitter (now X) in 2012.

Martin, who Trump initially picked to serve as U.S. attorney in D.C., appeared more hostile toward marijuana in comparison, however.

But he also recently gave mixed signals about his approach to prosecuting alleged violations of federal laws by licensed marijuana businesses—saying on the one hand that prohibition must be “abided by,” but also specifying that cannabis operators who are not in compliance with local laws are most at risk of enforcement action.

“Anybody who is selling marijuana better have a license and everything in order, otherwise we will pursue action against them,” he said at the time.

Green Theory, the dispensary that the prosecutor targeted in his letter, is compliant with D.C. laws, though Martin has also made the case that it is in violation of a separate federal statute that prohibits cannabis shops within 1,000 feet of schools, as is the case with the business in question.

In an interview late last month, Martin said shutting down licensed marijuana dispensaries doesn’t “rise to the top” of his priorities, but his “instinct is that it shouldn’t be in the community.”

“You apply the facts to the law, but you do it in the context of what the community is going through at that moment,” he said.

In March, meanwhile, the White House called the District’s move to decriminalize marijuana an example of a “failed” policy that “opened the door to disorder.”

In a fact sheet about an executive order that Trump signed—which is broadly aimed at beautifying the District and making it more safe—the White House listed several local policies in the nation’s capital that it takes issue with, including cannabis reform. That’s despite the president’s previously stated support for a states’ rights approach to marijuana laws.

“D.C.’s failed policies opened the door to disorder—and criminals noticed,” it says, citing “marijuana decriminalization,” as well as the District’s decision to end pre-trial detentions and enforcement practices around rioters, as examples of such policies.

The executive order itself doesn’t mention marijuana specifically. But it says the directive will involve “deploying a more robust Federal law enforcement presence and coordinating with local law enforcement to facilitate the deployment of a more robust local law enforcement presence as appropriate in areas in or about” D.C., and that includes addressing “drug possession, sale, and use.”

— Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments. Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access. —

Recreational cannabis possession and personal cultivation is legal in D.C. under a voter-approved ballot initiative, though commercial sales of non-medical marijuana remain illegal.

During Trump’s first term in the White House, he maintained that D.C. rider to keep blocking cannabis sales in his budget requests, as did President Joe Biden.

Recently, Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said she intends to “continue to fight” against efforts by her GOP colleagues to interfere with the District’s marijuana laws, vowing to again push for the removal of a spending bill rider that’s long prevented a commercial cannabis market.

Trump’s VA Secretary Meets With Psychedelic Therapy Advocate To Discuss Expanding Access For Military Veterans

Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.