Donald Trump and the Justice Department

Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg of the D.C. federal court quietly issued a March 4 order requiring that, for 120 days, grand jury forepersons must privately notify the duty magistrate judge in writing whenever a grand jury declines to approve an indictment, regardless of whether the target has already been charged. The move came after the Trump administration unsuccessfully sought grand jury indictments in February against six Democratic lawmakers—Reps. Jason Crow, Maggie Goodlander, Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan, and Sens. Mark Kelly and Elissa Slotkin—over a political ad urging U.S. service members not to follow unlawful orders, which Trump has labeled "seditious." Boasberg cited a review of current practices and framed the temporary rule as promoting "consistency and transparency," and said the court may consider making it a permanent local rule. U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro, who brought the failed cases to the grand jury and has been aggressively seeking more indictments than the prior administration, blasted Boasberg at a press conference as an "activist judge" after he also blocked her subpoena for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, but acknowledged that she is "willing to take a no true bill" as part of her charging strategy. The fight underscores rising tensions between Trump’s Justice Department and the D.C. bench over attempts to criminalize political opposition and over how much internal grand jury friction should be visible to the court—even if the public never sees the sealed notices.