Maddow Blog-In sandwich-throwing case, AG Pam Bondi and the White House trip over inconvenient facts

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Top members of Team Trump targeted a guy who threw a sandwich at a federal agent. In the process, they seemed to forget all about Jan. 6.

Trump’s DOJ: Throwing a sandwich at a law-enforcement official is a felony.

Also Trump’s DOJ: Encouraging a mob to “kill” police officers during an insurrectionist attack on the Capitol is fine — and won’t prevent you from getting a job at the DOJ. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-08-15T13:55:56.104Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/sandwich-throwing-case-ag-pam-bondi-white-house-trip-inconvenient-fact-rcna225194

The defendant’s name is Sean Charles Dunn, but you might know him as “sandwich guy.” According to the criminal complaint filed against him, Dunn — a military veteran and Justice Department lawyer — had a confrontation earlier this week with a Customs and Border Protection agent. There was some shouting, culminating in Dunn, as the complaint put it, “forcefully” throwing a “sub-style sandwich” at the agent.....

Time will tell what, if anything, comes of this case, but take a moment to consider how some of the relevant players have talked about the alleged crime:

“Assault a law enforcement officer, and you’ll be prosecuted,” Pirro said.

“Assaulting a law enforcement officer is a crime. The Trump Administration will always stand up for law enforcement officers and hold those accountable who seek to do them harm,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said.

“If you touch any law enforcement officer, we will come after you. ... You will NOT work in this administration while disrespecting our government and law enforcement,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said.

......But Bondi’s rhetoric — “You will NOT work in this administration while disrespecting our government and law enforcement” — was especially amazing because just last week the public saw video evidence of a former FBI agent named Jared Wise encouraging his fellow rioters to “kill” police officers on Jan. 6.

Months after he received a Trump pardon, Wise was hired to work in Bondi’s Justice Department — which, when asked about Wise’s record of endorsing deadly violence against cops, referred to him as “a valued member” of the DOJ.

In recent months, Team Trump has repeatedly acted as if Jan. 6 either didn’t happen or has already been forgotten. This week, however, the pattern descended into farce

[cbabe]

1. All tangled up. They can't tap dance fast enough.

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2. Deadline: Legal Blog-The Subway sandwich case highlights the Trump admin's criminal justice priorities

For throwing food at law enforcement in Washington, D.C., a man faces a charge that was brought against Jan. 6 defendants, whom Trump later helped.

https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/man-throws-subway-sandwich-charges-trump-dc-crime-rcna224975

Former Fox News host and current top Washington prosecutor Jeanine Pirro published a video Wednesday, accompanied by: “Assault a law enforcement officer, and you’ll be prosecuted. This guy thought it was funny — well, he doesn’t think it’s funny today, because we charged him with a felony.”

Link to tweet

....The complaint’s attached statement of facts from a detective alleges that Dunn began shouting late Sunday at U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agent Gregory Lairmore, who is subsequently referred to as “V-1” for being the alleged victim. The statement says Dunn “stood within inches of V-1, pointed his finger in V-1’s face, and yelled, ‘F--- you! You f---ing fascists! Why are you here? I don’t want you in my city!’” The statement further alleges that Dunn “approached V-1 and threw a sandwich at him, striking V-1 in the chest” after “winding his arm back and forcefully throwing” the “sub-style sandwich.”

The statement concludes by saying Dunn “attempted to flee on foot but was apprehended” and that he later told an officer: “I did it. I threw a sandwich.”....

On Thursday, Attorney General Pam Bondi further highlighted Dunn’s case, writing that she had just learned he worked at the DOJ but that he is now “FIRED” in addition to facing a felony charge. “If you touch any law enforcement officer, we will come after you,” Bondi wrote, calling Dunn an example of the “Deep State” the administration has been fighting.

She concluded: “You will NOT work in this administration while disrespecting our government and law enforcement.”

Link to tweet

The attorney general’s concluding line about not working in the administration while disrespecting law enforcement is notable in light of (among other things) the administration’s hiring of Jared Wise. My colleague Steve Benen recently highlighted that Wise had urged fellow rioters to “kill” the officers defending the Capitol and called them “Nazi” and “Gestapo.” The DOJ called Wise “a valued member of the Justice Department.”...

It’s too early to know how Dunn’s case will end, but it won’t be entirely up to the administration, which seems intent on making an example of him. How it ends could partly be up to the judiciary and, if it gets that far, a trial jury. Initially, any felony case would need to get through a grand jury to move forward. Given the relatively low evidentiary bar in the grand jury, it’s been said that a prosecutor could indict a ham sandwich. So an initial question if the DOJ presses such a case is whether D.C. grand jurors present an obstacle in this literal sandwich case.

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3. Piro is not having much luck getting grand juries to indict on bogus claims

Federal prosecutors told a judge they had failed twice to secure an indictment against Sydney Lori Reid for allegedly assaulting an FBI agent during an ICE arrest.

She is just running cover for their crimes

US Attorney Pirro's office admits grand jury refused ICE interference charges — twice

www.wusa9.com/article/news...

— Angry Donkey News (@angrydonkeynews.bsky.social) 2025-08-15T06:42:56.579Z

https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/crime/us-attorney-jeanine-pirros-office-admits-grand-jury-refused-charges-against-dc-woman-twice-sydney-reid-dc-jail/65-dc64747e-a8d4-4ad9-89e2-f6317f0fa2bd

WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors twice sought a grand jury indictment against a D.C. woman accused of assaulting an FBI agent during an ICE inmate transfer — and were twice rejected, the U.S. Attorney’s Office admitted in court Thursday.

Magistrate Judge G. Michael Harvey revealed the denials to attorneys for Sydney Lori Reid and later granted their request to remove all bond conditions and release her on her own recognizance over prosecutors’ objections. He will resume a preliminary hearing on Friday afternoon to determine whether to dismiss the case entirely.

“Two presentations to the grand jury returned no bill both times,” Harvey said. “Suggesting the evidence is wanting, given the standard for indictment is probable cause. Suggesting the government may never get an indictment.”

Grand juries are tasked with deciding only whether there is a reasonable basis to support charging someone with a crime – a much lower burden for prosecutors than the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard of criminal juries – and typically make their decisions after hearing evidence only from the government. At the federal level, grand juries return indictments, or “true bills,” in the vast majority of cases.

Reid, 44, was charged last month with an enhanced felony version of an assault charge that requires inflicting bodily injury on a federal officer and carries a maximum sentence of up to eight years in prison. The charge is the same offense filed this week against a former DOJ employee accused of throwing a sandwich at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent.

Piro is so bad at her job that she cannot indict a ham sandwich. It will be fun to see is she brings Sean Dunn to a grand jury for a real sandwich indictment