Pirro was upset that her ex-husband Albert J. Pirro Jr. wasn’t on Trump’s final pardon list that came out early Wednesday morning, and that message was conveyed to the White House and its former resident, according to a former White House adviser. Albert Pirro was convicted on conspiracy and tax evasion charges after improperly deducting $1.2 million of his personal expenses in business write-offs.
A separate source familiar with the matter tells CNN that Albert Pirro was not on the pardon radar before Wednesday morning. It wasn’t until midmorning that day that aides, who were in the middle of off-boarding their duties to the new administration, were told it needed to be done.
The order came as a total surprise and had aides scrambling to make it happen before the noon ET deadline, when Trump’s term came to an end.
Minutes after Trump landed in Florida following his final flight aboard Air Force One from Washington, now-former deputy White House press secretary Judd Deere released a statement announcing that “Today, President Donald J. Trump granted a full pardon to Albert J. Pirro, Jr.”
Irena Briganti, Fox News’ executive vice president for corporate communications, did not respond to a request for comment.
Pirro targeted Omar — one of the few Muslim members of Congress — by noting the Minnesotan’s religious head covering.
“Think about it: Omar wears a hijab,” Pirro said. “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 remarks prompted Fox to say, “We strongly condemn Jeanine Pirro’s comments” and that the views she expressed “do not reflect those of the network and we have addressed the matter with her directly.”
CNN’s Brian Stelter, Betsy Klein, Kevin Liptak and Kaitlan Collins contributed to this report.