Last week the Chief Judge for the D.C. federal district court threw out two grand jury subpoenas issued to the Federal Reserve by the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office. The subpoenas were part of a criminal investigation of Fed Chair Jerome Powell that was launched by Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. Chief Judge James Boasberg found that the subpoenas were issued for the improper purpose of pressuring Powell and the Fed to give in to Trump’s repeated demands that they reduce interest rates.Grand juries are given a great deal of leeway to conduct their investigations and it’s rare for a judge to reject their subpoenas. But for Pirro, this is just the latest in a long string of failures, any one of which would have been considered remarkable in any prior administration. Pirro has been doing her best to abuse the power of her office to punish Trump’s enemies and pursue his political agenda. Fortunately, she’s finding that those pesky guardrails built into our criminal justice system are doing an effective job of stopping her.

This decision is a stinging rebuke to Pirro, but she should be getting used to that by now. She’s had a remarkable string of failures in her improper efforts to use her office to punish Trump’s political opponents and pursue his political goals. The following are some highlights, but are far from an exhaustive list:Congressional video investigation: After six Members of Congress made a video reminding members of the Armed Forces that they should not follow unlawful orders, Trump blasted it as sedition:Pirro promptly launched a criminal investigation. The alleged crime was never specified, and for good reason: the video was an accurate statement of the law under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, not to mention protected speech under the First Amendment and the Speech or Debate clause.A federal grand jury unanimously rejected Pirro’s proposed indictment, finding that prosecutors did not even meet the low threshold of probable cause. A grand jury rejecting a proposed indictment is extremely rare; having it do so unanimously is unheard of.Two weeks later, Pirro’s office decided to drop the case.

Flag burning case: Just last week, Pirro’s office dropped the charges against a veteran who was prosecuted for burning an American flag outside the White House. The veteran, Jay Carey, was protesting a Trump executive order that urged the Justice Department to find ways to prosecute those who burned the flag. (The Supreme Court has held that flag burning is protected by the First Amendment.)Facing a court deadline to respond to Carey’s claims that he was a victim of a vindictive prosecution for exercising his First Amendment rights, Pirro’s office quietly dropped the case with no explanation.

Subway Sandwich guy: In a widely-publicized case, Pirro’s office absurdly sought to bring felony assault charges against Sean Dunn, who threw a Subway sandwich at a Customs and Border Patrol agent to protest Trump’s federal law enforcement surge in Washington, D.C. The grand jury refused to indict Dunn for the felony offense. Pirro’s office then charged him with a misdemeanor, which does not require grand jury approval. At his misdemeanor trial, the jury found him not guilty.

Sidney Reid case: In another case stemming from protests of Trump’s surge of federal officers into D.C., Pirro’s office sought to charge Reid with felony assault after her minor scuffle with an agent let to some abrasions on the agent’s hand. Three separate grand juries rejected the felony charges. Once again, Pirro then charged the defendant with a misdemeanor – and once again, a trial jury found her not guilty.

Originally Posted By yabbayabba⏩