I know it often seems like it’s bad news all the time on the Techdirt channel. And I’m sorry it’s that way. I wish we weren’t dealing with a daily deluge of new awfulness from the current president and his enablers.
But that’s what’s happening so that’s how it ends up looking here, as well as anywhere else election conspiracy theorists aren’t routinely asked to “comment” or “respond” to the latest wave of evil emanating from the White House.
On that note, let’s all enjoy this bit of winning, even if it will do little to deter Trump from being the frothy madman so many of his supporters clearly prefer him to be.
It has been said a grand jury will indict a ham sandwich. This phrase exposes the reality of nearly every grand jury, which — unlike a regular jury — doesn’t need to decide whether or not someone is guilty, but rather whether or not someone can be semi-credibly accused of committing a crime. Hence the ability of most grand juries to speed run the criminal justice curve in record time. And, also hence, a grand jury’s ability to pin a crime on an inanimate object.
Despite having everything in their favor, local-level government prosecutors can’t even talk bored grand jury members into hanging felonies on their latest ham sandwiches. That isn’t making those with a bit more paycheck on the line happy, as the LA Times reports. In a city that has seen uninterrupted protests against ICE — protests that resulted in the (illegal) deployment of National Guard troops and Marines to the city — a federal prosecutor apparently lost his entire shit following a string of shutouts pitched by local grand juries.
US Attorney Bill Essayli is under pressure, to be sure, what with an entire administration full of bigots and delusional conspiracy theorists demanding 3,000 migrant arrests a day and enough exaggerated “violent protest” to justify the rollout of martial law in “democrat” states.
He cracked. And he did it publicly, although he probably didn’t know it at the time. Engage your schadenfreude engines, kiddos. Let’s have a little fun at other (awful) people’s expense:
A prosecutor had the irate Trump administration appointee on speakerphone outside the grand jury room, and his screaming was audible, according to three law enforcement officials aware of the encounter who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
The grand jury had just refused to indict someone accused of attacking federal law enforcement officers during protests against the recent immigration raids throughout Southern California, two of the federal officials said.
[…]
On the overheard call, according to the three officials, Essayli, 39, told a subordinate to disregard the federal government’s “Justice Manual,” which directs prosecutors to bring only cases they can win at trial. Essayli barked that prosecutors should press on and secure indictments as directed by U.S. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi, according to the three officials.
Yeah, if I’m someone who wants to have a career as a prosecutor or lawyer, I’m not going to throw my lot in with Bondi and her DOJ. It’s career suicide, unless you’re a true believer, or someone who (more plausibly, unfortunately) believes this nation is headed towards decades of open authoritarianism. Essayli might be a true believer. His subordinates — no matter their current MAGA level — couldn’t talk rational people into accepting irrational charges.
According to this report, 38 charges against protesters have been filed by the federal government. So far, prosecutors have only secured seven indictments. Some cases have been no-billed. Others have been booted down to misdemeanors, which means neither the federal government nor the federal grand jury need to be involved any further.
Essayli was apparently hoping a lot of high level federal charges would bring protesters to heel. Instead, he’s the heel screaming performatively into a phone, demanding underlings bring him all the heads he’s asked for, even if those heads are no longer available.
Here’s what his office said in response to a request for comment. And it speaks for itself, even (or especially) because it says nothing at all:
A statement provided by his office on Tuesday accused The Times of spreading “factual inaccuracies and anonymous gossip,” but offered no specifics or further comment in response to questions.
Once again, the easiest way to determine whether or not something is true is to ask this administration about it. If it replies with a blanket statement containing phrases like “fake news” or “factual inaccuracies” without providing contradicting facts of its own, it’s safe to assume the reports being not-even-really-denied by the Trump administration are largely, if not completely, true.
Anyway, I just thought you might enjoy this secondhand description of a federal prosecutor losing his shit on main because the government’s bullshit was too much for even complacent, compliant grand juries to swallow. And there will be more failures in the future because a lot of America — the America this administration pretends doesn’t exist — is sick to death of this insanely swift descent into fascism. It’s one thing to check the Overton window. It’s quite another thing to shatter it because you’re too impulsive or stupid to see if it can be nudged open a bit before exploring your options further.