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Jan. 6, 2026 18:01-18:31 - CSPAN
29:55
Washington Journal Mary Clare Jalonick
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judge jeanine pirro
fox 22:07
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rear adm margaret kibben
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Speaker Time Text
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
Selling the drugs or trafficking in the drugs.
We are charging now individuals who sell drugs or give drugs that are then used and result in the death of an individual with the crime of overdose resulting in death.
So if they're selling drugs and someone dies, we're now prosecuting them for the actual death itself.
We're not letting them get away with their poison.
And one Javon Mark was convicted of selling drugs that caused the death of two prominent members of the Washington gay community, a Brandon Roman, an attorney, and a Robbie Barletta, a historic preservation expert.
Now let's move on to child exploitation.
Child exploitation and human trafficking, I'm sorry to say, is alive and well in the district and across the country.
We prosecute internet-based crimes as well as the production of child pornography and the coercion and enticement of minors to engage in all kinds of sexual conduct as well as trafficking.
In 2025, our team rescued 38 children from across the country.
Now, for those of you who may not know it, this work is even worse than what you think.
Two defendants, a Prasan Nepal and a Leonidas Veragianens, ran something called 764, which was basically a telegram channel directing vulnerable children under the threat of extortion to post content of their own sexual abuse,
their own sexual self-mutilation, as well as self-immolation, resulting in some cases in attempted suicide by these youngsters who were being extorted.
Horrific, horrific group.
And on the international cartel front, we took unprecedented action against the drug cartels that poison American communities.
After President Trump and Secretary Rubio declared the Sinaloa Cartel, a foreign terrorist organization, we seized more than 300,000 kilograms of methamphetamine precursors from the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the most violent and sophisticated transnational foreign terrorist organizations.
This was the largest seizure of precursor chemicals known in American history.
The vessel carrying this precursor chemical was interrupted on the high seas and brought into U.S. waters in Houston, where we met them.
It was disrupted.
The supply chain was disrupted that was used to manufacture meth.
And by going after the precursor chemicals, we're striking at the source and not just the symptoms.
And for a visual, it took 2418 wheelers to transport the product that we took off this ship that amounted to a street value of a half a billion dollars.
Now, I've talked about street crime and drug crime and keeping the community safe, but we're also talking about what happens behind closed doors and protecting victims of domestic violence.
We have established right now that there is an increase in strangulations in the district by, I believe it is 59% or 60%.
59%.
So there is still crime happening behind closed doors.
And we need to do more to protect victims of domestic violence.
We've established a very aggressive approach to strangulation.
Let it be known to the women in this district that if a man puts a hand on your neck or in any way restricts or prevents you from breathing, you are in serious danger and it is time to leave.
If you have been the victim of a strangulation, There is an 800% chance that he will kill you.
It is time to leave.
It is time to get in touch with people in the field, including my office, to find the best and the safest ways to get out of these relationships.
And unfortunately, as a result of this, we are seeing more homicides that are predictable.
Now, it's only recently that strangulation was raised from a misdemeanor to a felony.
And it's because of what my office did in the past year.
And I have to give credit to Alana Suttenberg, who will be a judge soon in Superior Court, a member of my staff, still, I think, working, who fought hard to make sure that strangulation is considered a crime of violence so that the presumption is detention in these cases.
So we have also done extensive police training on this to let the police know the kinds of questions that they need to ask, including the blockage of breathing and restriction of blood circulation.
And within my office, we have a program for women and men if they are victims, but primarily 95% of women called VIPER, Violent Intimate Partner Emergency Response.
We have a holistic approach in my office.
Everyone from investigators to take on these cases to the people and victim witness to the prosecutors, getting the victims in immediately, having long-term constant contact with them so that they stay in touch and continue fighting for justice.
Now, we did something very unusual that got the attention of some major companies.
We created a scam center strike force, which is now a public-private partnership focused on Chinese organized crime syndicates and scam centers in Southeast Asia, targeting Americans with fraudulent cryptocurrency investments.
And it has been met with resounding acceptance.
We've partnered with Meta, with Microsoft, with Amazon, and with Google to find the fraudsters who have scammed Americans out of close to $15 billion with a B in 2024 alone.
My strike force team has seized and forfeited over $400 million in cryptocurrency and is focused on recovering stolen funds and returning them.
And of late, you've heard about what's going on on the high seas.
My office has played a strategic role in securing the warrants and the critical seizure of oil tankers transporting sanctioned products.
We have provided the legal basis necessary to seize oil tankers transporting black market oil through court-ordered search warrants.
By targeting these sanctioned vessels, the United States, through the diligent legal efforts, is able to make sure that we seize both the ships as well as the products that are on those ships.
Those seizures come out of my office because of the expertise within the threat finance unit of my national security section and for jurisdictional reasons as well.
We have dramatically increased the pace and the volume of these operations to make the world a safer place.
Assets forfeiture, old crimes being committed in new ways doesn't change our focus.
From Hamas, we forfeited $2 million in cryptocurrency used by various foreign terrorist organizations, including funds Hamas used in support and facilitation of the October 7th attacks.
In North Korea, we seized approximately $20 million worth of cryptocurrency from North Korean hackers known as the Lazarus Group who targeted American enterprise.
And from Iran, the Islamic Republic of Iran attempted to evade U.S. sanctions.
We were there to stop them.
They attempted to procure helicopters worth $3 million.
We forfeited them.
We forfeited, we got also a Russian company where we seized a million dollars of their funds.
And when Iran attempted to defy U.S. sanctions on their oil, we seized approximately $130 million worth of it.
And finally, the age of accountability.
Most of you know from the time I got here, I was very focused on reducing the age of accountability in the district.
We have 14, 15, 16, and 17-year-olds who are not criminally liable, except for very few exceptions.
Every day in the office, I see more and more proof of the necessity of making the young people in the district accountable and criminally liable for their criminal actions.
A few days ago, another 16-year-old shot and killed a 20-year-old in DC.
We have seen far too many homicides committed by these underage kids who have a history of violence, that they skate through family court, that they get through it without any real punishment, and when they arrive at the scene old enough to go into criminal court, it's with a homicide.
They don't start with a petty larceny.
And this concept of protecting them because of their youth is absurd.
The only people who need to be protected are the victims.
And until that law is changed, whether it's by the DC Council or Congress, the citizens of this district will not be completely protected.
And we're pushing for critical legislative changes.
Second Chance Amendment reduces the sentence, even mandatory minimums.
If you're under 25 and the legislature has said, you know, you've got to serve 5 to 15.
If you're under 25 in the district, judge can give you probation.
Like the case I always talk about, the kid who goes on the bus, shoots another kid.
It's 5 o'clock.
There is a family on the bus, shoots him in the chest, but for the grace of God, the guy would have died.
It's intent to kill, as far as I'm concerned.
He doesn't die.
We make the arrest.
The MPD makes the arrest.
We prosecute.
We get a conviction.
Judge cuts him loose under second chance.
It's absurd.
And it's an insult to the people of this district.
Our approach is simple.
It's to protect the people and to make the criminals accountable.
And finally, looking forward, this office will be prosecuting a defendant who has evaded justice for far too long in the bombing of Pan Am 103,
where 270 innocent people, including, I believe, 35 from Syracuse University and families from 21 different countries were mercilessly blown up in the sky right before Christmas over the town of Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.
My office has worked this case with our partners at the FBI and international partners as well for decades.
Abu, Aguilo, Mohamed, Masoud, Kier Almarimez is now in custody in the district.
Judge Dabney Frederick has promised to begin this case by July of 2026.
There are other well-known cases that are headed for trial this year.
One, the case of an innocent congressional intern, Eric Tarpinian Jackum, mercilessly shot down by young punks with prior records who are now in custody.
The young couple at the Capitol Museum in May, Yaron Leshymsky, as well as Sarah Milgram.
The two National Guardsmen who were shot, Sarah Brextrom, deceased, Andrew Wolfe, hopefully on the mend.
These are victims that we fight for every day.
And in addition, you may remember the Doge staffer, Big Balls, that's a name he gave himself, brutally assaulted.
Many thought we would never find out who the assaulters were.
This case will be going to trial with the older assaulters, abusers responsible in criminal court.
And as an aside, several of them are still in the family court, but they should be in criminal court along with Lawrence Cotton Powell and Anthony Taylors.
These achievements did not happen in a vacuum.
They are the result of bold policies championed by President Donald Trump, empowering us to enforce the law without apology.
And to the criminals who thought that D.C. was an easy target, those days are over.
We're building on the momentum from 2025 with even more resources dedicated to the emerging threats like cybercrime and organized crime rings.
I want to thank my dedicated team of prosecutors behind me, some of whom you've never seen, the investigators, as well as the support staff for their tireless work that they do quietly every day, every night, weekends, holidays, and to the residents of D.C., your safety is our priority, and we're just getting started.
Any questions?
unidentified
Judge?
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
Yes.
unidentified
You know, you mentioned that Congress or the DC Council could make those changes that you've been outlining to the juvenile laws.
You have a fairly detailed proposal.
You publish an op-ed with the details of what you'd like to see.
Do you think there's an urgency to get those changes done before the midterms?
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
Well, I don't judge anything by political midterms.
I judge them by the number of people that we're going to lose before we change the law.
You see, the most striking statistic to me was the one where two teens were killed in five months when we had more than two every month.
And that's because we're taking these criminals and these violent offenders off the streets.
We're taking the guns away from them.
The sooner we can get these young kids who are committing assault with a deadly weapon, but it's not a crime if they're 14, 15, or 16 or 17, they're in family court.
The sooner I can get them in criminal court, the less chance there is for them to kill someone.
I don't care about politics.
I care about lives.
Yeah.
unidentified
Two questions for you.
Since the last time we talked to you in person, I know that the report had come out about the DC crime data.
And since then, we have a new police chief in place.
I'm wondering if you have any thoughts about Chief Carroll and your office working with him moving forward.
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
Well, I think Chief Carroll's great.
I've been working with him since I got here.
I have a lot of faith in him.
I like the guy.
Probably shouldn't say it, but I did.
You know, there you have it.
unidentified
The data that you put out in front of us, just what specifically do you point to as far as the surge being the reason for the drop in crime?
Because obviously we're looking back to 2024.
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
It's like a brick wall, okay?
Crime doesn't just stop because criminals decide they're not going to commit it anymore.
They don't commit crimes because there are people on the street and they're afraid to commit crimes.
It is that visual that makes it clear to them, if I step out of line, if I carjack.
I mean, who would have thought?
When I first got here, carjacking is down 68%.
and the cars were getting torched.
I don't know what the point of the torching is other than, you know, it's some, well, you tell me you're laughing, why?
Why do they do that?
unidentified
Okay.
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
Now it's down because they know we're gunning for them.
They know we're coming for them.
They know someone's going to see them.
That's why we need to reduce the age of accountability and responsibility.
That's why the homicides are down.
All right?
It is amazing.
You tell people you're going to follow the law, you're going to arrest them.
And if you get a judge who doesn't give them probation, then we have a chance of getting businesses to survive, families to live here in peace.
The district then blossoms.
unidentified
I think it's fair to say that the surge led to an unprecedented pushback from grand juries and even magistrate judges who are refusing to take indictments.
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
How do you explain that?
You know, if I were here for a long time, I might be able to answer that question.
But I've been here since May.
So, I mean, I have my thoughts, but I can't say for sure.
unidentified
Well, has it affected the way that your office prosecutes and charges these cases?
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
Yeah, we charge higher.
unidentified
Is it fair?
Is it fair to say, we talked about, we know that there was the presidential emergency, right?
The 30-day emergency.
But it is fair to say that that federal surge of agents is still going on in the district.
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
I don't know if, I don't know that I would call it that.
There's an enhanced cooperation that the mayor has agreed to and that the PD is working.
Look, I talk to members of the police department all the time.
I mean, they're grateful for the help.
We now have a system where we've got a gun.
It goes to ATF.
We know to call FBI.
We know to call Secret Service.
We know to call DEA.
I mean, we've got a system.
And during the surge, I mean, you guys were there.
You?
You were there, Matt.
You were there.
I mean, we had a system where now you make an arrest.
Everybody comes together.
Before, it's like, we need to get the BWC.
We need to get this.
We need to get that.
No, it's immediate.
unidentified
So you think that this is something that's going to continue?
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
I don't know because I'm not in charge.
unidentified
And the National Guard, I know a lot of people, and I know that that's, you don't run the National Guard, but in terms of agents being here, there's the federal agents and then there's the National Guard.
Unfortunately, these two poor folks, you know, terrible.
Yeah, it's awful.
Any idea if they're going to be here in perpetuity?
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
I have no idea, but what I can tell you is that I respect them for what they're doing.
They're making a difference.
Everyone in the district should thank God they're here because they're the reason homicides are down.
They're the reason strangulation, the carjackings are down.
They're the reason why thugs are now in custody who might never be in custody.
I mean, this is full throttle.
We're one of the most violent cities in the country.
The fourth highest homicide rate in the country.
I mean, we were headed for hell.
Not anymore.
unidentified
Judge, DOJ is suing DC over the city's challenging the city's ban on AR-15s and other semi-automatic weapons.
It's unconstitutional.
Your office touts removing those types of guns off the streets.
I think you said 856 as evidence that the federal surge and your office's work is working.
How do you reconcile for more removal of these guns while also limiting the city's ability to restrict them?
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
Easily.
If you possess a gun legally and it is registered, then you have the right to have it.
However, if you are using a gun in a crime, then we're going to seize the gun and we're going to prosecute you for that.
They are not at all inconsistent.
unidentified
Even AR-15s and the semi-automatic weapons at your office.
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
The Department of Justice has made a decision that they're going to do whatever they're going to do.
I am bound by the DC statute and the DC law.
You want to add anything to that?
unidentified
No, just also wave that.
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
You can talk.
unidentified
Well, I'll talk.
I mean, anybody who is a felon who is possessing those types of weapons are, of course, going to be arrested and held accountable.
And so just because the Department of Justice is standing up for Second Amendment rights doesn't mean that we don't have the ability to prosecute criminals who are holding illegal firearms.
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
She's the PAUSA.
Principal AUSA, PAWSA.
unidentified
Judge.
How many warrants do you have?
I have two questions.
Number one, how many warrants do you have for Venezuelan oil tankers?
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
think I'm going to tell you that.
I'm very proud of this team.
See this guy over here?
These people work day and night and weekends.
unidentified
Will he tell us?
No.
The second question I have is, obviously today's the five-year anniversary of J.
I knew it.
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
I knew it.
unidentified
What is your message to people who want to come to the district and commit political violence?
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
My message to anybody, irrespective of the day, is don't plan on coming here because I'm here.
And I look forward to meeting you if you're coming here for that purpose.
unidentified
So I have a related question.
You've been touting the efforts to push for fiercer convictions, your high conviction rate.
It's also the case that the president pardoned a number of individuals who were convicted of these violent crimes, many of whom have gone on to be re-arrested for further violent crimes, such as you have spoken about having to hear juveniles in the district.
How do you reconcile the president's pardoning of those individuals with what you're touting as a push to crack?
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
My job, since I got here in May, is to prosecute crime.
I am not here to comment on anything else other than the crime that I am prosecuting.
unidentified
Does it make sense harder?
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
I am grateful that the president made the decision to make D.C. safe for the people who live here, for the women who live here, for the people who own cars, for the mothers of murdered sons.
You damn right.
There's nothing difficult about working for this president.
Nothing.
unidentified
On the strangulation point, the city of Maryland and an advocacy group there is the first in the country to create a hotline, 24-hour hotline, for abusers and potential abusers.
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
Oh, interesting.
unidentified
We've already started to see early success on that.
Is that something that you think could be successful here that you would support advocate for?
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
Yeah, well, obviously, you know what?
Everything depends on staffing, but I like it.
I mean, I like the idea.
I've been doing this for a long time.
And I think that abusers have to be dealt with.
And when we did a conference in October, a domestic violence conference, I don't know if you were aware of it, we had one gentleman who was phenomenal.
Do you know the name of the guy?
Tim, do you remember the guy?
He works with men.
This guy is incredible.
I'm going to call him and talk to him about that because he's the guy who would do something like that.
Absolutely.
unidentified
I'll call him too if Tim gets the number.
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
All right, guys.
unidentified
What do you say to residents who hear the president consistently misrepresent crime statistics as recently as this weekend saying incorrectly that there had been no homicides in months in DC when we all know that that's just not factually correct?
No doubt homicides and crime are significantly down.
But when they hear the president of the United States repeatedly misrepresent the true crime stats, what do you say to residents about that?
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
What I say to residents is thank goodness for the president because if we didn't have him, we wouldn't have the ability to get crime and homicides down.
Next question.
unidentified
Does it help to have him out there misrepresenting, giving in?
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
I'm not even going to respect that question with an answer.
And you know I'm not.
I already answered you.
I already answered.
I don't want to have a fight with you.
unidentified
Well, why don't you just answer the question?
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
Why?
I just did.
Check your recorder.
unidentified
Two questions.
First, you mentioned that there were issues previously with the MPD's stats.
Do you fully trust those now?
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
Oh, yeah.
unidentified
Can you talk about some of the changes made?
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
Yeah, in fact, we are now involved in as recently as I think next week going over to MPD and working with them on all of the classifications of the crimes, how it's being done.
There is a new chief now.
I am very comfortable with what's happening now.
unidentified
I am.
I just want to follow up, too, on the question about the Gen 6 pardons.
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
Well, that's all before me.
I mean, as far as I'm concerned, you commit a crime, I'm going to prosecute you.
unidentified
Does your team have any concerns that that could impact the prosecution of the pipe bomber suspects?
No.
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
Not at all.
Not at all.
The pipe bomber was an individual who was mad at everybody, the Republicans and the Democrats, and he wanted to blow them up.
And, you know, he didn't accomplish his goal.
And he needs to be prosecuted and will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
I have no doubt.
Not you again.
unidentified
else officer Terry Bennett is an NPD officer who was struck by a driver He's on life support right now.
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
What organization are you from?
unidentified
BC Washington, Marcy.
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
Wow.
All right.
Do we know about this case he's talking about?
unidentified
We know.
I don't think we have anything on it yet.
I'm just wondering if you're prepared to charge, should the officer be taken off by support, what would happen?
The driver has not been charged with anything else.
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
I don't know the facts yet.
Honestly, I don't know the facts yet.
unidentified
The suspect, they know who the suspect is.
He just hasn't been charged with anything as of yet.
The officer may not survive his injuries.
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
Do you guys know about this?
Spence?
I don't.
Yeah.
You know what happens is we wait for the police to give us the report, obviously, and then we create whatever needs to be created in terms of legal process.
I honestly don't know that one.
unidentified
We have a vehicular homicide person who handles vehicular homicide.
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
Yeah, yeah, all right.
As soon as we know, as soon as it gets to me.
And then it just not again.
unidentified
I know.
I don't get many opportunities with you.
I appreciate your patience.
In a few months, Councilmember Trayon White will go on.
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
Oh, I can't wait.
unidentified
Well, could you elaborate on that?
He has said that he's been set up by the FBI.
He's currently serving on the council now.
He was re-elected after being removed.
Can you tell us what you expect to come from this trial?
You said you can't wait.
Did you just put a little meat on those bones?
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
Yeah, I expect a conviction.
I think the evidence is solid.
I've seen the evidence.
I don't like individuals who work for government, whether it's federal, state, local, and who use that as an opportunity to line their pockets.
It's unacceptable.
unidentified
Should he be serving right now?
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
That's not up to me.
That was up to the people.
They made that decision.
unidentified
I appreciate that.
Your collaboration with federal authorities, FBI, etc.
You reportedly intervened to try to overrule.
judge jeanine pirro ▲ ● ▼
I'm not going there.
Bye.
Happy New Year, everybody.
unidentified
Happy New Year.
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