Thursday, August 20, 2026

Another grand jury fiasco for the Trump administration

 

Another grand jury fiasco for the Trump administration

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/8/20/800086750/justice/another-grand-jury-fiasco-for-the-trump-administration/ 

Another grand jury fiasco for the Trump administration

by Lisa Needham
Staff
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Journalist Don Lemon, right, speaks to the media outside the U.S. District Courthouse in St. Paul, Minn., Friday, Feb. 13, 2026.
Journalist Don Lemon, right, speaks to the media outside the U.S. District Courthouse in St. Paul, Minnesota on Feb. 13, 2026.AP

You gotta hand it to this Department of Justice. Officials at the compromised government agency genuinely break new ground all the time. The trouble is that the new ground is things like “lying so hard to grand juries that judges have to intervene,” which is not so great.

In the latest humiliation for the Trump administration, U.S. District Judge Laura Provinzino, who is overseeing the cases of the 38 people charged for an extremely peaceful anti-ICE protest at Cities Church in St. Paul during the height of ICE’s siege of Minnesota, has ordered the DOJ to turn over all grand jury material for all 38 cases. 

You might remember this case as the one where the administration moved heaven and earth to indict journalist Don Lemon for felonious reporting, even going to Los Angeles to arrest him while he was covering the Grammys. Isn’t it terrific that when it comes to tracking down someone who made President Donald Trump sad, we can expend infinite resources?

Related | Journalists arrested as Trump team sets fire to First Amendment

Lemon’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, is on a TEAR. He’s filed not one, not two, but three separate motions to dismiss the case against Lemon. There’s the one for vindictive prosecution, which, well, yes. Then there’s the one saying it should be dismissed for statutory and constitutional deficiencies, which, well, also yes. And then there’s the one saying the case should get tossed for violating the First Amendment and failing to state an offense.

Whew!

The argument defendants here made to pry loose the grand jury transcripts is one that’s been made successfully before. Most federal prosecutors likely go their whole lives, eons really, without having a judge rule that they have to give up grand jury transcripts and materials, which are normally extremely not available, even to the judge.

But in the Broadview 6 case, we learned that Chicago federal prosecutors, after being ordered to turn over grand jury materials for the judge’s review, removed and redacted the materials to cover up their grand jury malfeasance. Well hey, at least it was only … checks notes … nine separate categories. That seems bad. 

A cartoon by Clay Bennett.
ClayBennett/Tribune Content Agency

Yes, there appears to be everything from improperly vouching for witnesses to having private ex parte communications with grand jurors to removing jurors who said they would not be inclined to vote to indict. 

What happened in Chicago was appalling, and it’s all too likely that it happened in Minnesota as well. Not just for the 38 people indicted in the Cities Church protest, but also for the Minnesota 15, who were charged with conspiracy to impede ICE agents. What’s the tell? That, much like Don Lemon, people are charged with things that are not really crimes, which makes it seem fairly certain the grand jury did not get a true rendition of events. 

And that’s the real innovation of this DOJ, which is a unique combination of hilarious rake-stepping, like when they literally failed to indict a ham sandwich (thrower), Sean Dunn, and straight-up lying to the grand jury to land indictments. And it’s not just the Broadview 6, not just the church protesters in Minnesota, not just the Minnesota 15. Remember the shenanigans with James Comey? Or Letitia James?

Indeed, we learned this week in the Minnesota 15 case that jurors were shown an absolutely unhinged graphic claiming a vast conspiracy between multiple unions, nonprofits, and activists, all in the service of indicting people over the “crime” of organizing and protesting ICE.

You know how they say sunlight is the best disinfectant? We’re gonna need enough sunlight to burn the DOJ to the ground and start over after all this.

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All comments are subject to our Community Guidelines. The views expressed in comments are those of the individual authors and don't necessarily reflect the views of Daily Kos.

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  1. Comment by bajadudes.

    Unfortunately, as nice as this news is the purpose of these charges are not a successful prosecution but pure harassment and intimidation. Still, even in that respect it may be backfiring on this ship of fools.

  2. Comment by thegameisthegame.

    It’s just baffles me that grand jury transcripts are not automatically discoverable like in state court … that has to be changed … what’s the harm?? How else would a defendant know if there was a legal deficiency in the indolence presented without seeing the transcript ??

  3. Comment by Alonso del Arte.

    Members of the grand jury, this delicious ham sandwich is an antifa terrorist who somehow vandalized the reflecting pool despite lacking opposable thumbs.

  4. Comment by brat city blue.

    First thing is to send Todd Blanche to prison. Wonder if he ever heard of John Mitchell?

    • Reply by Mr Zandrini.

      Reopen Alcatraz and send the entire maladministration there to freeze their collective asses off.

  5. Comment by A Citizen.

    We need major grand jury reform. The irony is that the intent of grand juries is to prevent exactly this kind of abuse of the legal system. It was intended as a check against the power of the government. Instead, it's become a method for the government to attack the public.

    • Reply by ghefley.

      Many lines are being twisted to unrecognizable shapes, with cutting edges.

  6. Comment by Paul C.

    Lol, I love your writing, Lisa!

    "Isn’t it terrific that when it comes to tracking down someone who made President Donald Trump sad, we can expend infinite resources?"

    Those gangsters have achieved the ultimate score, using our tax dollars against us. There is zero cost to them of waging all out war against us.

  7. Comment by Angel Of Fear.

    In relation to rumps obsession with his enemies, we need to sneak someone in to the white house. To tell rump netayahu insulted his hair, his penis size or something else important to rump, along with LLM generated pictures to convince him. I bet netayahu would get a predator missile on top of his head before the week is out.

  8. Comment by Ralphdog.

    Hire clowns, expect a circus. In this case clowns tasked with persecuting political opponents, which makes their actions actually a little bit funny. Sort of like Berlusconi was funny....if you weren't a woman or if you were expecting competence and integrity.

  9. Comment by Frank49.

    Trump is just like a dog with a bone. /he just won't let it go.

  10. Comment by Digler.

    Criminals will commit crimes. And the Trump regime is nothing if not criminals.

  11. Comment by JMLTOO.

    If they can't convict, Donald's minion are more than happy making people miserable and forcing them to hire attorneys to defend themselves. Inflicting misery is one of Donald's favorites tools for dealing with people exercising their Constitutional Rights to say mean (truthful) things that hurt Donald's delicate feelings, like saying "no".

    It's the Toddler Affect.

    • Reply by IndyGlenn.

      Trump is using 'the system' illegally and immorally to attack people, and relying on his victims following 'the system' to not attack him. That works! For a while at least, we all try to work within 'the system' and honor the social contract BECAUSE we know how important that social contract is. What Trump does not realize is that once he breaks 'the system' down too far, the social contract is broken, and now NOTHING is holding us back from attacking him. History shows that this does not end well for anyone, but tyrants pay a heavy price early on.

    • Reply by A Citizen.

      Exactly. This is a way to use the courts to punish people when they can't get a conviction.

    • Reply by bopamole.

      You say, "what trump does not realize" the effect he is having on the "social contract". I think he knows exactly what he is doing. After reading Regime Change I've come to understand that I was underestimating the apricot hellbeast. He DOES realize what he is doing. He is driven (like an addict) to hurt anyone HE believes negatively affected him personally (he blamed Biden for the breakup of Junior's marriage!). He is driven (like an addict) to "cheat the system". He hates women, and loves humiliating people. Sets up meetings where he asks an admin official to come in and present options about a given subject in a room full of high level officials, but it is all to see the guy squirm under pressure, because the decision about the subject was made the night before, and the presenter has no idea, but everyone else in the room does. Think about that for a minute.

    • Reply by Paul C.

      Yes, but when do we begin that part about attacking them back? There is so much inertia built into our Party, 34 years worth, of saying nothing and doing nothing while Republicans tear the house apart. Getting to the point where we are leading rather than cowering means replacing the people who believe that cowering is our only path into office. I'm not saying we can't do that. I'm saying we need to do that.

    • Reply by Paul C.

      Like he did to Zelenskyy.

    • Reply by bopamole.

      Yep, exactly. You have to be one depraved MFer to do that shit. And he has surrounded himself with other depraved MFers and has made great headway in destroying our democracy.

    • Reply by kck.

      Ronald Reagan explicitly, strategically, programatically redefined the Social Contract by name into his own image with entrenched Republican approaches to the "modern" American social contract, redefined as being focused on "reducing federal spending, shifting responsibilities to state governments, and scaling back entitlement programs" and the media lapped it up.

      Language was an early victim of the RW.

  12. Comment by gnabss.

    "I am your retribution." - Says President thin skin the first.

    What he really and truly meant is, "I am a vengeful jerk who has been given tremendous power and I will abuse it unless I am stopped."

    • Reply by A Citizen.

      Trump actually had merchandise that said "Trump 2028: The Revenge Tour". Yet the media won't acknowledge that this is all about revenge.

    • Reply by Al B Tross.

      Capitalists have a code of ethics. Protect your own, fuck everyone else.

  13. Comment by mabon.

    And great writing, Lisa!

  14. Comment by mabon.

    I picture a huge magnifying glass 🔍 burning up the now-corrupted DOJ.

    • Reply by Paul C.

      Flamethrower.

  15. Comment by stratocruiser.

    Sunlight is the best disinfectant? I've never before been rooting for a nova.

  16. Comment by ChiknSpectre.

    Moral: Don't elect a convicted felon president.

  17. Comment by evancooper.

    "We’re gonna need enough sunlight to burn the DOJ to the ground and start over after all this."

    A new Constitution is more like it...

    • Reply by stonykill.

      Can't go there with you, evancooper, though I understand the sentiment.

      The (flawed, but brilliant) Founding Fathers still offer an antidote a bit less radical: Amendment(s).

      I shudder to think of the turmoil any Constitutional Convention might generate ... and to what questionable, unpredictable end. Obviously, YMMV, and, again, I understand the take.

    • Reply by BobRR.

      Amendments to the Constitution, yes, but not a Constitutional convention to write a new one. Convention members on the Right would take away our bill of rights as well as birthright citizenship, and remove the right to vote for women ans people of color.

    • Reply by jayden.

      In this political climate, No.

      We need to strengthen the one we have and pass laws that address its shortcomings. Judges could start by accepting that this DOJ is untrustworthy and hold attorneys acting outside the law accountable for their malfeasance.

      And it's long past time to toss the RW "unitary executive" bullshit in the dustbin, set it on fire, and bury with toxic waste encased in concrete.

    • Reply by stratocruiser.

      If we kept the Electoral College*, I'd like to see the Houserebalanced so each voter has equal representation. As it is, voters in, say Montana, have far fewer voters per Representative than California.

      * The electoral Congress itself is a relic of travel times on horseback in the colonial times to carry voting numbers to a meeting. Cumbersome, but necessary. Later adjustments to give slave states more power were just that, adjustments.

      Also, national campaigns were impossible due to physical limits on travel. The system relied on personal interaction at the conventions.

    • Reply by thanxamillion.

      The first order of business for the coming Democratic trifecta, in ‘28 is to enlarge the court with real justices. Justices that will enforce the existing constitution and laws.

      Trying to rewrite the constitution will lead us to a worse disaster that the one we are living through.

    • Reply by thanxamillion.

      I like your way of thinking. Making substantive change without flushing the existing structure down the tubes.

      Dumping the Electoral College would be ideal but the rural states will block it with all their will. But diluting their grip on power, along with other changes, like clawing back real campaign finance regs, could be enough to open the door to getting government working for human beings again.

      ——————————————————————————————————————

      Contrary to popular opinion we were on the right path up to 1980. If LBJ hadn’t sunk his mandate in Vietnam we might have kept moving in that direction.

      The crisis Trump is visiting on America may be the thing that finally breaks the strangle hold the GOP has held on the voters’ consciousness. No, Republicans are not good for the economy, security, law and order, moral integrity in government and certainly not good for your health, job prospects, you name it. They are not good. Period!

      Now if Democrats can take some sage advice from Republican strategists: “NEVER LET A CRISIS GO TO WASTE”

      Or as we all learn from every Hollywood action movie: KICK THE MFers WHEN THEY ARE DOWN AND DON’T LET ‘EM GET BACK UP AGAIN! EVER!

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