President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice, led by Attorney General Pam Bondi, is running into unexpected turbulence as it targets his political rivals.
Trump stormed into office vowing ‘retribution’ and has made clear he wants to see justice hammer down on names like ex-FBI chief James Comey and New York’s top attorney Letitia James. But it turns out, grand juries across the country aren’t playing along.
Instead of greenlighting high-profile indictments, these panels are shutting the door—declining to charge in numbers described as “highly unusual.” Even anti-ICE activists and lower-profile Trump antagonists are slipping through DOJ’s fingers, as grand juries refuse to rubber stamp prosecutions. Josh Gerstein, Politico’s legal eagle, bluntly describes grand juries as Trump’s ‘major stumbling block’ and says their behavior now stands in stark contrast to the obedient panels of the past: “Grand juries have stopped being just a formality,” he reports.
Legal experts say this marks a dramatic shift. University of Dayton law professor Thaddeus Hoffmeister declared that grand juries have “come back to life,” reflecting, “People have mocked them as pointless for years. But suddenly, we’re seeing they really can serve as a bulwark, just as the constitution’s framers intended.”
The administration’s aggressive moves—think mass deportations and ramped up policing—are backfiring, with DOJ prosecutors running into brick walls not just in Washington, D.C., but in hotspots like Los Angeles, Chicago, Alexandria, and Norfolk.
Liz Oyer, who once oversaw pardons at the Justice Department, said that this is a wakeup call: “It reminds us ordinary Americans that we hold real power. When grand jurors say no, it’s proof the people still have a voice—even when the White House wants payback.”
