The reason so many Trump prosecutions are failing to get indictments is because he is charging people with weak evidence and for political reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Grand juries have emerged as a major stumbling block for Trump\u2019s drive to use the criminal courts to exact retribution on his perceived political foes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Federal grand juries operate in near-total secrecy and decide whether prosecutors can bring a criminal indictment in the first place. Unlike trial juries, they don\u2019t need to be unanimous; rather, a majority of their 16 to 23 members must agree to return an indictment. And their only job is to determine if the Justice Department has brought a plausible case \u2014 a relatively low standard which led to the cliche that prosecutors could get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the Trump era, grand juries are no longer a rubber stamp. Instead, they\u2019ve become a headache for prosecutors trying to advance controversial Trump policies like mass deportations and militarizing law enforcement. Dozens of recent cases in Washington, D.C., have been met with so-called \u201cno bills\u201d \u2014 the shorthand for a grand jury declining to return a bill of indictment. And grand juries in other jurisdictions have turned down high-profile cases that Trump has prioritized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The administration also seems to be losing because it\u2019s pushing for indictments in cases with weak evidence, and due to the unpopularity in some parts of the country of tough tactics against protesters and of policies like Trump\u2019s crackdown on undocumented immigrants. and<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan recently marveled at the \u201capparent prosecutorial machinations\u201d at work, emphasizing the \u201cunprecedented\u201d actions prosecutors have taken to bring cases \u2014 even when grand juries have rebuffed them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMost troubling, prosecutors have rushed to charge cases before properly investigating them,\u201d the Washington-based Biden appointee lamented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The Constitution\u2019s requirement that a grand jury approve serious criminal cases was adopted as a safeguard against executive power and political prosecutions. The move stemmed from what many revolutionaries regarded as political trials instituted by British authorities.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n