DOJ humiliated as judge calls out 'abuse' of grand jury in scathing decision

DOJ prosecutor's conduct could now unravel more than 100 of her cases

A veteran federal prosecutor's grand jury misconduct is so pervasive that the Justice Department now expects to review more than 100 cases she handled going back to 2007.A court filing in the Northern District of Illinois names the collapsed prosecution of the "Broadview Six" as the case that started it all. News reports identify the lead prosecutor as Sheri Mecklenburg, a nearly two-decade veteran of the Justice Department whose conduct before a grand jury unraveled a high-profile case against six Democratic officials and activists arrested for protesting outside a Chicago Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility during the Trump administration's "Operation Midway Blitz" deportation campaign.Prosecutors made three attempts to indict the protesters on a rare felony conspiracy charge.During those attempts, Mecklenburg allegedly dismissed grand jurors who were skeptical of the government's case, had private conversations with grand jurors outside formal proceedings, and told jurors she would "never ask you to charge somebody if I didn't think there was probable cause." One dismissed juror had told her the case was "a crock of s— then and I still think it is.""I have never seen the types of prosecutorial behavior before a grand jury that I saw in those transcripts," U.S. District Judge April Perry said. "That trust has been broken."The Broadview Six case collapsed entirely, with all charges dismissed with prejudice.A separate court filing revealed Mecklenburg had ex parte contact with grand jurors in an unrelated arson case, telling them she "can prove this case" and that "we don't catch the smart ones." The government now estimates her conduct will trigger a review of grand jury minutes in more than 100 cases since 2007.Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) called Trump's Justice Department a campaign to "bully, prosecute, punish and silence" political foes. Slate noted the Department of Justice admitted to "weaponizing a prosecution against Trump's foes."Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) confirmed Mecklenburg's detail to the Senate Judiciary Committee was terminated after the misconduct became public.

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Federal judge quashes Trump DOJ subpoenas aimed at Minnesota’s Walz, Frey

A federal judge in Minnesota has tossed out multiple Department of Justice (DOJ) grand jury subpoenas aimed at Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) and other officials in the state. U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz wrote there was “no doubt” the DOJ issued the subpoenas to “harass” political opponents of President…

Todd Blanche plot upended by judge to 'harass and retaliate' against Trump foes

A federal judge has upended Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's campaign to "retaliate" against Minnesota Democrats who refused to help enforce President Donald Trump's immigration agenda.Chief Judge Patrick J. Schiltz of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota quashed all six grand-jury subpoenas Monday targeting Gov. Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, and St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her — all Democrats — as well as county officials in Ramsey and Hennepin counties.The subpoenas, served on Jan. 20, sought sweeping records related to immigration enforcement dating back to Jan. 1, 2025 — the opening salvo of a Justice Department investigation into whether Minnesota officials had obstructed federal immigration agents during "Operation Metro Surge."The judge shot down the DOJ's arguments in his Monday order."The evidence that the challenged subpoenas were issued for unlawful reasons is overwhelming," he wrote. "The Department has struggled — without success — to identify a single plausible investigatory justification for the subpoenas."The Justice Department couldn't point to an instance of a Minnesota official actually obstructing a law enforcement officer. It withdrew one of its five stated justifications after admitting it had no verifiable source.On Jan. 13, Trump posted on Truth Social, threatening "RETRIBUTION" against Minnesota's political leaders. Three days later, the subpoenas leaked to multiple outlets — with at least one citing "U.S. officials" as its source.On Jan. 14, he posted on X accusing Walz and Frey of "encouraging violence against law enforcement" and vowing to stop their "terrorism by whatever means necessary."Four months later, Blanche went on Fox News and named Walz again — this time in the context of a fraud investigation, saying the governor had "done nothing but sue us."Schiltz found the subpoenas "were not issued to investigate, but to harass, coerce, and retaliate.""The dominant purpose of the challenged subpoenas," he wrote, "is to coerce Minnesota officials into assisting the federal government with enforcing civil immigration law and to harass and retaliate against them for failing to do so."

Judge's scathing rebuke of Trump admin startles CNN: 'Quite a shock to see it on paper'

CNN anchor Brianna Keilar was stunned after a federal judge scolded the Trump administration in a scorching new ruling on Monday.Chief Judge Patrick J. Schiltz of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota blocked the Justice Department's efforts to subpoena Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz and other Democratic officials in an immigration enforcement probe, CNN reported. Walz, who has publicly criticized President Donald Trump, was targeted by the DOJ along with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, and St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her. County officials in Ramsey and Hennepin counties were also issued subpoenas."That is quite a lashing," Keilar said, responding to the judge's ruling.CNN correspondent Katelyn Polantz described the opinion — and what made it stand out."I don't know if I've seen an opinion take on the Justice Department in this way before from a federal judge saying just explicitly that they believe that the Justice Department was using its authority for political means in exactly the wrong, unlawful way," Polantz said.The subpoenas from former Attorney General Pam Bondi came following weeks of unrest and protest in Minnesota after two people — Renee Good and Alex Pretti — were killed amid aggressive ICE raids in Minneapolis. In the letters, Bondi told local officials that they needed to support ICE, Polantz said."It was a retribution and a reckoning day that was coming for people in Minnesota that didn't support the federal government," Polantz explained. "What the Justice Department said at that time was that people like Walz, Frey, they were going to be investigated for impeding federal law enforcement. But this federal judge, Patrick Schiltz, in Minnesota, he finds that that is totally not what the Justice Department was doing." "He says that the way they brought forth this criminal investigation into Walz's office, the mayor's offices, the attorney general's office in Minnesota," she added. "It was blatantly unlawful and unethical use of the grand jury process. He says that there was no doubt that these were grand jury subpoenas for documents that were meant to harass and coerce these local officials, and that there was no plausible investigative justification. The unlawful reasons here were overwhelming, quite a shock to see it on paper from a judge in this federal case saying, 'these guys, these grand jury subpoenas, they're not going to survive.'"

Socialist Democrat Congressional Candidate Calls for Trans Bill of Rights: 'Horrific' to Protect Children from Genital Mutilation Surgery

Melat Kiros, a socialist congressional candidate challenging incumbent Democrat Rep. Diana DeGette in Colorado's 1st Congressional District, believes there is a need for a "Trans Bill of Rights," considering it "horrific" to protect children from gender mutilation surgery. The post Socialist Democrat Congressional Candidate Calls for Trans Bill of Rights: ‘Horrific’ to Protect Children from Genital Mutilation Surgery appeared first on Breitbart.

Trump's DOJ unleashes new ploy to punish Democratic cities

The Justice Department is dangling nearly $1 billion in public safety grants in front of cities and police departments nationwide — but with a condition that critics say is designed to freeze out Democratic-led communities.The grants announced this month comes with a catch requiring local officials to work with federal immigration officers as the Trump administration works to draw local police deeper into immigration enforcement in the wake of widely criticized federal surges in cities like Minneapolis and Chicago, reported NPR."They are trying to take dollars that local agencies have been depending on for years and saying, 'Oh, well, if you want these dollars, then you need to help us out with our immigration enforcement work,'" said Tahir Duckett, executive director of the Center for Innovations in Community Safety at Georgetown Law.About $700 million comes through the DOJ's long-running COPS grant program, which has funneled more than $20 billion to local police departments since 1994 for everything from hiring officers to school safety initiatives. An additional $300 million — a new program called the Model Cities Initiative, created under Trump's tax-and-spending law — will go to just two to four midsize cities, with the DOJ bypassing its standard competitive peer-review process in favor of direct review by agency leadership.Buried in the fine print is a mandate that any program that "impedes or hinders" federal immigration enforcement, including failing to honor requests from the Department of Homeland Security, won't be funded. The COPS grants similarly give "priority consideration" to jurisdictions that cooperate with immigration authorities."That is highly unusual and especially concerning, because the grants appear to be bypassing the standard competitive peer review process," Amy Solomon, senior fellow at the Council on Criminal Justice and former head of the DOJ's Office of Justice Programs, told NPR.Teams of reviewers with expertise in diverse subjects would typically evaluate the grant applications, but critics say the new plan would have he practical effect of shutting out Democratic-led cities entirely. What's the end result? The only cities and localities that apply are Republican-led cities," said Insha Rahman of the Vera Institute of Justice, predicting the administration will use the contrast on the campaign trail to paint Democrats as soft on crime.Police chiefs have long resisted entangling local law enforcement with immigration enforcement, warning it erodes community trust and discourages witnesses from cooperating with investigations. Research has also found immigrants commit crimes at lower rates than U.S.-born citizens, and federal data shows more than 70 percent of current immigrant detainees have no criminal convictions — undercutting the administration's public safety rationale.The DOJ declined an interview request, but in a statement called the disconnect between immigration and public safety "ludicrous," touting the arrests of "hundreds of thousands of criminal illegal aliens" including alleged terrorists and gang members. DHS, meanwhile, said cities refusing cooperation force federal agents into a "more visible presence" in their communities.The first Trump administration tried a similar tactic, but it was challenged in court and later reversed under President Joe Biden.

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