Jeanine Pirro Allegedly Pressed Prosecutors for Rapid Indictment of Lawmakers
Jeanine Pirro, the US Attorney for Washington, D.C. and a longtime ally of former President Donald Trump, reportedly issued an abrupt directive to prosecutors, urging them to bring an indictment against six Democratic lawmakers. The case centered on the lawmakers' involvement in a video that reminded troops of their rights to refuse illegal orders, according to a detailed report from The New York Times.
Unusual Legal Process and Failed Case
The directive from Pirro was part of an unusual legal process that ultimately clouded the failed case. As recently as mid-January, prosecutors in contact with lawyers for the lawmakers described the investigation as being in its early stages and did not specify what law the representatives were accused of violating. The case floundered, and a grand jury reportedly declined to bring an indictment last week, marking an unusual outcome for such a high-profile probe.
Observers noted the strangeness of the alleged back-and-forth, given that high-profile investigations of sitting members of Congress typically rely on months of careful analysis and evidence-gathering before charges are sought. Kristy Parker, counsel at Protect Democracy and a former federal prosecutor, told The New Republic, "That is irregular. Typically, when someone is the target of a criminal investigation, it's unusual to dissemble with the target's lawyer about what the charges might be that close to an indictment. It's not how federal prosecutors are supposed to conduct themselves."
Prosecutorial Inexperience and Partisan Criticism
In addition to the alleged sudden change in strategy, the case reportedly featured Pirro's office turning to two attorneys with minimal Department of Justice prosecutorial experience. Officials Steven Vandervelden and Carlton Davis helped bring the indictment, according to Bloomberg Law. Vandervelden has no prior DOJ background, though he served alongside Pirro as a local prosecutor in Westchester County, New York, while Pirro was district attorney there. He reportedly maintained an active photography studio as the attempted case was playing out.
Lawmakers named in the investigation have been sharply critical, arguing the case was a wrongful partisan exercise to target critics of the president. Senator Mark Kelly, who was cleared in the DOJ investigation, said last week, "It wasn't enough for Pete Hegseth to censure me and threaten to demote me, now it appears they tried to have me charged with a crime—all because of something I said that they didn't like. That's not the way things work in America."
Broader DOJ Challenges Under Trump Administration
The Trump administration has been marked by failures in court and chaos within the ranks of top federal prosecutors. Since Trump took office, more than 5,000 DOJ officials have reportedly quit, taken buyouts, or been fired, according to a monitoring group. Pirro's office alone at one point had lost at least 90 prosecutors, as reported by the Washington Post.
In recent weeks, scores of prosecutors have left a U.S. Attorney's Office in Minnesota, reportedly in part out of frustration over the Trump administration's decision not to launch a civil rights investigation into an ICE agent fatally shooting Minneapolis protester Renee Good. Last year, in the case of a protester who threw a sandwich at a federal officer, Pirro's office failed to secure a grand jury indictment and was not able to convict on a misdemeanor assault charge.
The Independent has contacted the Justice Department for comment, while a spokesperson for Pirro's office declined to comment on the allegations.
