Jeanine Pirro’s tough-on-crime push just hit a wall—again and again.
Over the past month, three separate grand juries in Washington, D.C. have refused to indict Sydney Lori Reid on felony charges after federal prosecutors claimed she assaulted law enforcement officers, including an FBI agent. The U.S. Attorney’s Office—led by Pirro, a Trump appointee—kept bringing the case back. All three times, the grand juries said no.
In the federal system, that’s rare. Grand jury indictments are usually easy wins for prosecutors—requiring only probable cause and the agreement of just 12 jurors. But even with that low bar, Pirro’s office couldn’t get the felony assault charge to stick.
The case centers on a July incident in which Reid allegedly fought with an immigration officer during a detention encounter. According to federal investigators, she “flail[ed] her arms and kick[ed],” requiring officers to restrain her against a concrete wall. An assisting FBI agent reportedly scraped his hand against the wall during the scuffle.
Despite those details, three grand juries concluded there wasn’t enough to charge Reid with felony assault on a federal officer, CNN reports.
That hasn’t stopped Pirro’s office from pushing. “An indictment has not been returned in this case,” prosecutors admitted in a Monday filing, noting that a third grand jury had delivered a “no true bill”—the legal term for rejecting an indictment.
When pressed by reporters at a Tuesday press conference, Pirro tried to downplay the unusual failure.
“Sometimes a jury will buy it and sometimes they won’t. So be it,” she said. “That’s the way the process works.”
She added: “We are the tip of the spear. We are the ones who take these cases into court, and the burden is on us to prove these cases. And we welcome that burden beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Still, the fact remains: three juries didn’t even find probable cause—well below the threshold needed at trial.
With no felony indictment in hand, prosecutors are now downgrading the case. Reid will be charged with a misdemeanor instead, which doesn’t require a grand jury. She’s expected to enter a plea in the coming weeks.
Reid’s defense attorneys, Tezira Abe and Eugene Ohm of the federal public defender’s office, didn’t mince words in their response.
“Three grand juries have now declined to indict Ms. Reid for felony assault on a law enforcement officer,” they said in a statement. “The U.S. attorney can try to concoct crimes to quiet the people, but in our criminal justice system, the citizens have the last word. We are anxious to present the misdemeanor case to a jury and to quickly clear Ms. Reid’s name.”
The case is also drawing attention because of its political backdrop. Under Trump’s direction, Pirro has taken a more aggressive stance on crime in the nation’s capital, especially in cases involving alleged attacks on law enforcement. Critics argue the strategy encourages overcharging and leads to exactly this kind of public stumble.
Prosecutors noted that a magistrate judge had previously found there was probable cause for the felony charge, but that doesn’t override the grand jury’s decision.
“In spite of that, a United States magistrate judge held there was probable cause that a felony assault on a federal officer had occurred,” Pirro’s office told CNN.
Even so, without an indictment, the felony case is dead.
Three strikes. No indictment. And no sign the grand juries are buying what Pirro’s selling.
