A federal grand jury in Washington declined to indict a lawyer accused of threatening National Guard troops patrolling the city as part of President Donald Trump’s federal crime surge, adding to a growing list of felony rejections facing U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office.
Paul Anthony Bryant, a West Point and Columbia Law School graduate, was arrested on Aug. 24 after allegedly shouting “I’ll kill you” and slamming his shoulder into a Guardsman. Prosecutors charged him with threatening a federal official and making threats to injure — felonies carrying maximum penalties of 10 and 20 years. His attorney called the case “baseless” and said there is no video evidence due to National Guard troops not wearing body cameras.
Pirro’s office told a magistrate judge Tuesday that grand jurors had returned a no true bill for Bryant, two people familiar with the matter told a local CBS affiliate, WUSA9. The government subsequently dropped its appeal of the magistrate judge’s decision to release Bryant pending his trial, according to a notice on the docket Tuesday evening.
The grand jury’s no true bill is at least the eighth felony case rejected since Trump’s federal takeover of Washington law enforcement, prompting concerns of jury nullification. Pirro has warned of a “politicized jury,” noting jurors previously declined to indict those who threatened to assassinate the president and assaulted federal agents.
Prosecutors could now ask a magistrate judge at Bryant’s Wednesday hearing to find probable cause and re-present the case to another grand jury. Alternatively, they may file misdemeanor charges, which do not require grand jury approval.
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Bryant, who carried a legally owned firearm at the time of his arrest, was not charged with any gun-related offenses. He remains out on bond but turned himself in on Tuesday concerning a warrant out of Maryland.
Neither Pirro’s office nor Bryant’s legal team responded to requests for comment.
