Less than two weeks after Jeanine Pirro enraged President Donald Trump by dropping vandalism charges linked to his scandal-plagued Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool project, the U.S .Attorney made an “usual” and “notable” move, according to a new report.
Pirro has taken the extraordinary step of empaneling a special grand jury in Washington, DC, leading to speculation about whom she is targeting, the Washington Post revealed Wednesday.
Special grand juries differs from a typical grand jury in a significant way in that they can release a potentially critical report about the subject of an investigation, even if no one is brought to trial, according to the report.
D.C.’s special grand jury is being overseen by Steven Vandervelden, one of Pirro’s top allies in her office, according to three government officials familiar with the matter who spoke to the Post.
Vandervelden has been instrumental in investigating some of the office’s most controversial cases, including a failed probe into then-Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell and an inquiry into allegations that the D.C. police force purposely tampered with their own crime statistics.
What the special grand jury will investigate remains unclear, with legal experts telling the Post that the move is particularly “notable” given President Donald Trump’s stated interest in having Pirro prosecuting his high profile adversaries.
“This could be very interesting,” said Steve Friedland, a law professor at Elon University. “Each administration has its own approach to how it enforces the law and how it uses the tools available to it.”
Legal experts say there is no known “recent precedent” for a special grand jury in Washington, though they cautioned they could not entirely rule out that one has escaped public notice, the Post is reporting.
“They are very unusual,” cautioned Niki Kuckes, a professor at Roger Williams University with expertise in grand jury procedures. “Sometimes they can issue a report, which a regular grand jury can’t do.”
The move comes as Pirro and top Justice Department officials face pressure to deliver on cases Trump wants prosecuted after a series of blunders which have soured the relationship.
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