DOJ’s failed side quests could undercut Trump’s accountability message
This looks less like justice and more like strategy.
A handful of Justice Department attempts to build highly politicized criminal cases on weak or untested legal foundations is threatening to undermine public faith in the accountability agenda President Donald Trump promised on the campaign trail.
The unsuccessful attempt by prosecutors this week to secure an indictment against six Democratic lawmakers who appeared in a social media video encouraging military members to defy “illegal” orders was the latest side quest to spawn negative headlines for the Trump DOJ. It followed a backlash to the Justice Department’s subpoena of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, as well as criticism of the inclusion of former CNN anchor Don Lemon in the indictment of anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement activists who shut down worship services in a Minnesota church.
Trump’s DOJ has not shied away from pursuing political cases. His FBI raided the election offices in Fulton County, Georgia, last month as part of a criminal investigation into the 2020 vote count. His Justice Department has signaled it is looking into whether Obama-era intelligence officials fabricated the intelligence that led to the Russian collusion investigation during Trump’s first term in office.
But those moves target alleged wrongdoing that was central to Trump’s identity for years, and which voters might have expected his DOJ to pursue when they reelected him in 2024.
Critics say some of the other, less clear-cut political cases could threaten to undermine the controversial work Trump’s supporters want to see the DOJ accomplish.
“If you can’t even get a grand jury indictment, that’s pretty embarrassing,” former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told the Washington Examiner. “Statistically, you can count on one or two hands the number of times per year nationwide the department is unable to secure an indictment, and it seems to be a regular occurrence right now.”
Washington, D.C., has one of the most dense concentrations of Democratic voters, meaning it is highly possible some grand juries, which consist of selected citizens, are rejecting these prosecutions on purely political grounds. Meanwhile, the Washington Examiner previously uncovered left-wing groups that have been meeting and coaching residents on how to “influence outcomes” in jury deliberations.
Grand jury proceedings require only probable cause, not proof beyond a reasonable doubt, and are conducted without defense counsel present.
“You need a bare majority, 12 out of 23 grand …
This looks less like justice and more like strategy.
A handful of Justice Department attempts to build highly politicized criminal cases on weak or untested legal foundations is threatening to undermine public faith in the accountability agenda President Donald Trump promised on the campaign trail.
The unsuccessful attempt by prosecutors this week to secure an indictment against six Democratic lawmakers who appeared in a social media video encouraging military members to defy “illegal” orders was the latest side quest to spawn negative headlines for the Trump DOJ. It followed a backlash to the Justice Department’s subpoena of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, as well as criticism of the inclusion of former CNN anchor Don Lemon in the indictment of anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement activists who shut down worship services in a Minnesota church.
Trump’s DOJ has not shied away from pursuing political cases. His FBI raided the election offices in Fulton County, Georgia, last month as part of a criminal investigation into the 2020 vote count. His Justice Department has signaled it is looking into whether Obama-era intelligence officials fabricated the intelligence that led to the Russian collusion investigation during Trump’s first term in office.
But those moves target alleged wrongdoing that was central to Trump’s identity for years, and which voters might have expected his DOJ to pursue when they reelected him in 2024.
Critics say some of the other, less clear-cut political cases could threaten to undermine the controversial work Trump’s supporters want to see the DOJ accomplish.
“If you can’t even get a grand jury indictment, that’s pretty embarrassing,” former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told the Washington Examiner. “Statistically, you can count on one or two hands the number of times per year nationwide the department is unable to secure an indictment, and it seems to be a regular occurrence right now.”
Washington, D.C., has one of the most dense concentrations of Democratic voters, meaning it is highly possible some grand juries, which consist of selected citizens, are rejecting these prosecutions on purely political grounds. Meanwhile, the Washington Examiner previously uncovered left-wing groups that have been meeting and coaching residents on how to “influence outcomes” in jury deliberations.
Grand jury proceedings require only probable cause, not proof beyond a reasonable doubt, and are conducted without defense counsel present.
“You need a bare majority, 12 out of 23 grand …
DOJ’s failed side quests could undercut Trump’s accountability message
This looks less like justice and more like strategy.
A handful of Justice Department attempts to build highly politicized criminal cases on weak or untested legal foundations is threatening to undermine public faith in the accountability agenda President Donald Trump promised on the campaign trail.
The unsuccessful attempt by prosecutors this week to secure an indictment against six Democratic lawmakers who appeared in a social media video encouraging military members to defy “illegal” orders was the latest side quest to spawn negative headlines for the Trump DOJ. It followed a backlash to the Justice Department’s subpoena of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, as well as criticism of the inclusion of former CNN anchor Don Lemon in the indictment of anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement activists who shut down worship services in a Minnesota church.
Trump’s DOJ has not shied away from pursuing political cases. His FBI raided the election offices in Fulton County, Georgia, last month as part of a criminal investigation into the 2020 vote count. His Justice Department has signaled it is looking into whether Obama-era intelligence officials fabricated the intelligence that led to the Russian collusion investigation during Trump’s first term in office.
But those moves target alleged wrongdoing that was central to Trump’s identity for years, and which voters might have expected his DOJ to pursue when they reelected him in 2024.
Critics say some of the other, less clear-cut political cases could threaten to undermine the controversial work Trump’s supporters want to see the DOJ accomplish.
“If you can’t even get a grand jury indictment, that’s pretty embarrassing,” former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told the Washington Examiner. “Statistically, you can count on one or two hands the number of times per year nationwide the department is unable to secure an indictment, and it seems to be a regular occurrence right now.”
Washington, D.C., has one of the most dense concentrations of Democratic voters, meaning it is highly possible some grand juries, which consist of selected citizens, are rejecting these prosecutions on purely political grounds. Meanwhile, the Washington Examiner previously uncovered left-wing groups that have been meeting and coaching residents on how to “influence outcomes” in jury deliberations.
Grand jury proceedings require only probable cause, not proof beyond a reasonable doubt, and are conducted without defense counsel present.
“You need a bare majority, 12 out of 23 grand …
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