The Justice Department is not acting like it used to, criminal defense lawyers note

"Now, they're debuting a tool to help track criminal cases that appear to involve irregular charging practices, including aggressive legal theories and possible political retribution against President Trump's foes. "We created the Case Tracker because you cannot defend against an enemy you cannot see," said Steven Salky, a lawyer in the Washington, D.C., area who oversees the project. "The Tracker is intended to spotlight for the next several years the unusual cases being prosecuted by the Department of Justice.""

"The new database includes the federal cases against Sean Charles Dunn, who threw a sub sandwich at a federal immigration officer, and Jacob Samuel Winkler, a homeless man accused of directing a laser pointer toward the Marine One presidential helicopter. Juries in Washington, D.C., acquitted both men. The tracker, sponsored by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), also monitors cases where government charges of resisting federal law enforcement have been undercut by videos and eyewitness accounts from protesters."

""I came into office with the goal of refocusing the Department of Justice on its core mission after years of bloated bureaucracy and political weaponization," Bondi said. "The Department of Justice's core mission is to fight violent crime; protect the American people; and defend the rule of law above all else. While our work is never done, we have made tremendous progress to make America safe again.""

Leading defense lawyers perceived abnormal Department of Justice behavior and created a Case Tracker to monitor irregular charging practices, aggressive legal theories, and alleged political retribution. The database, sponsored by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, catalogs federal prosecutions including cases against Sean Charles Dunn and Jacob Samuel Winkler, both acquitted by Washington, D.C. juries. The tracker follows instances where resisting federal law enforcement charges were undermined by videos and eyewitness accounts from protesters. Attorney General Pam Bondi denied political motivations, asserting a refocus on DOJ core missions, while federal judges and juries have expressed skepticism toward some prosecutions.

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