Trump's retribution campaign hits a losing streak
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President Trump on Feb. 1 in Palm Beach, Florida. Photo: Al Drago/Getty Images
President Trump has increasingly tested how far political retribution can stretch into the justice system, but his efforts to prosecute his perceived political opponents during his second term have repeatedly fallen short.
Why it matters: Federal grand juries almost always return indictments — rejecting them only five times out of more than 165,000 cases nationwide in 2013, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
- Prosecutors need only 12 of 23 grand jurors to secure an inducement, underscoring the gap between Trump's political threats and the legal system's response.
- The White House referred Axios' request for comment to the Justice Department, which did not immediately respond.
Comey case unravels in court
A federal grand jury in September declined to indict former FBI Director James Comey on one of three charges.
- Prosecutors indicted him on the remaining counts, including allegations that Comey made false statements to Congress and obstructed a congressional proceeding.
Yes, but: The case was ultimately dropped after a federal judge ruled that Trump's appointment of hand-picked prosecutor Lindsey Halligan was invalid.
- In January, the judge ordered Halligan to explain why she was identifying herself as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia despite the court's ruling. She stepped down later that month.
Zoom in: Comey and Trump have a long-standing feud, dating back to Comey's investigation into potential coordination between Trump's 2016 campaign and Moscow.
James case tossed twice
Charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James were also tossed in November, after Halligan's appointment was deemed defective.
- Less than two weeks after a judge dismissed the agency's mortgage fraud case against James, the DOJ tried again — but a grand jury declined to indict her a second time.
- In dismissing the case without prejudice, a federal judge wrote in an order that "all actions flowing from" Halligan's "defective appointment" are "unlawful exercises of executive power and must be set aside."
Catch up quick: James' office in 2024 ruled that Trump must pay over $450 million for decades of financial fraud — a penalty that was tossed by an appeals court in August.
- The director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency wrote a criminal referral for James in April for allegedly falsifying bank statements to receive "more favorable loan terms."
DOJ loses sandwich assault case
A former DOJ employee accused of throwing a sandwich at a Customs and Border Protection agent in August was found not guilty by jurors in November.
Sean Charles Dunn, 37, was accused of being the man in a viral video who threw "a sub-style sandwich" at a federal agent following Trump's order increasing the federal law enforcement presence in the U.S. capital, per a court filing.
What they're saying: U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro said "law enforcement should never be subjected to assault, no matter how 'minor,'" though she accepted the jury's verdict.
Indictment bid against six Democrats fails
A grand jury on Tuesday declined to indict six congressional Democrats over a video in which they urged service members to reject unlawful orders.
- Pirro's office failed to secure an indictment over the video featuring Elise Slotkin (D-Mich.), and Reps. Maggie Goodlander (D-N.H.), Jason Crow (D-Colo.), Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan (Penn.) and Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.).
Flashback: The six Democratic veterans reminded the military and intelligence communities that "no one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution" in a 90-second video posted on X, though they did not reference any specific directive.
- Trump had accused the lawmakers of "SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH."
What we're watching: It's unclear whether Pirro will attempt to indict the lawmakers again.
Go deeper: Trump's DOJ purge backfires as courts toss Comey, James cases
