Trump administration losing credibility with judges and grand juries

[marmar]

Trump administration losing credibility with judges and grand juries – a former federal judge explains why this is ‘remarkable and unprecedented’
Published: February 11, 2026 4:16pm EST

The word “unprecedented” is getting a workout after a grand jury in Washington on Feb. 10, 2026, rebuffed an attempt by federal prosecutors to get an indictment against perceived enemies of President Donald Trump.

It began with an unprecedented video in November 2025 featuring six Democratic lawmakers alerting members of the military that they had the duty to disobey illegal orders. That enraged Trump, who in an unprecedented move said the lawmakers were guilty of sedition, which is punishable by death. The U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro, made the unprecedented attempt to indict the lawmakers. The final element in this drama – the federal grand jury’s rejection of Pirro’s request – wasn’t itself unprecedented. That’s because it’s only the latest in an unprecedented string of losses for the Trump administration before grand juries.

Dickinson College President John E. Jones III, a former federal judge, spoke with The Conversation politics editor Naomi Schalit about the role of grand juries, why a grand jury would not indict someone – and how all of this is a reflection of the administration’s remarkable loss of credibility with judges and the citizens who make up grand juries.

How does the grand jury process work?

The grand jury really dates back to before the Bill of Rights, but for our purposes it’s memorialized in the Fifth Amendment within the Bill of Rights. It is meant to be a mechanism that screens cases brought by prosecutors.

....(snip)....

Why would a grand jury refuse to give the prosecutor what they want?

It’s unprecedented, although we now see a wave of grand juries pushing back against the government. I don’t recall a single instance, during the almost 20 years I served as a U.S. District judge, when a grand jury refused to return a true bill, an indictment. It just is completely aberrational. The grand jury would have to totally reject the whole premise of the case that’s being presented to them by the United States attorney because, remember, there are typically no witnesses appearing before the grand jury to dispute the facts. The grand jury is clearly saying, “Even accepting the facts you’re putting before us as true, we don’t think under these circumstances this case is worthy of a federal indictment.”

....(snip)....

We’re seeing that time and again in appearances in court where judges simply don’t believe what U.S. attorneys are telling them, based on past demonstrable falsehoods that have been stated in open court. And now we see grand juries that are also doubting the credibility of federal prosecutors. And these grand jurors are not blind to what is taking place in the world around them.

....(snip)....

What does it mean if you have a court system, judges and the grand juries who do not have faith in the administration and its legal claims?

It’s a complete drag on our system of justice. For all of the time that I sat on the federal bench, I had great respect for the Department of Justice, and the department had tremendous credibility. They were straight shooters. The prosecutors who appeared in front of me were professionals. I didn’t always agree with their arguments, of course, nor did I agree with a few of their charging decisions, but I can tell you that not once did I see a federal prosecution in front of me that I felt strongly should never have been brought at its inception.

But we now have a system where, because of the whims of the president, the Department of Justice has become utterly weaponized against his perceived enemies, and that’s a gross misuse of our prosecutorial power at the federal level. ........................(more)

https://theconversation.com/trump-administration-losing-credibility-with-judges-and-grand-juries-a-former-federal-judge-explains-why-this-is-remarkable-and-unprecedented-275741

[MLWR]

1. "It's a complete drag on our system of justice."

Not to mention, a colossal waste of taxpayer dollars.

[OldBaldy1701E]

2. We have a system of justice?

[KS Toronado]

3. The rump regime is leading the pack in so many unprecedented ways.

[FuzzyDicePHL]

4. This title implies...

...that the tRump administration ever had any credibility in the first place, which we all know is not the case.

[70sEraVet]

5. I know that the Republicans' plan to fix the problem is to start.....

replacing 'woke' judges with MAGA followers, but how do you 'fix' the juries? Maybe THAT'S why they're so intent on getting the voter roles of all the states! Only MAGA voters will called for jury duty.

[FakeNoose]

7. It sounds plausible ... you may be right about this

The feds normally have no say in state trials, since it's not their jurisdiction. But what if they figured out a way to fix them by rigging the juries?

[MarcoZandrini]

6. Pirro couldn't...

….get a ham sandwich indicted in Televiv.

[V850i]

8. Not so much with the most important judges

The administration continues to win the vast majority of the cases that go to the Supreme Court with a few meaningless bones thrown to the left (which we act like we won some major case that upholds the rule of law and restores a reasonable reading/interpretation of the constitution). So much so that the Supreme Court has not just changed the common understanding of the Constitution, but they have effectively rewritten the Constitution with rulings that have no real support in the words of the document nor in any historical context. They have rewritten it so profoundly in their own image, they are the Constitution.

[WestMichRad]

9. "presumption of regularity"

… is the term for judges taking at face value that what prosecutors tell them is factually correct and does not need to be proven. It’s a great advantage that the prosecution has at hearings and during trials. The federal justice department under King Drumpf has pretty much destroyed that “advantage” with many, if not most, federal judges by both lying to judges and withholding important information. It’s their own damn fault.