00:02The Justice Department has taken a rare step in Washington,
00:06convening a special grand jury that could be used to investigate
00:10some of the most controversial cases handled by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro.
00:14The Washington Post is first to report it,
00:17and right now it is not clear what case or cases the grand jury will actually take up.
00:22But this is not your typical grand jury.
00:24Its 23 members can focus on one case or a group of related cases
00:29and can even issue a public report naming people accused of wrongdoing
00:33whether or not they are ever charged.
00:36The Post says the grand jury will be overseen by Stephen Vandervelden,
00:40one of Pirro's top allies,
00:41who has already worked on some of her office's most high-profile investigations.
00:46Those include the probe into then-Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell
00:50and an inquiry into whether D.C. police purposely skewed crime statistics.
00:55And all of this comes after President Trump publicly turned on Pirro
00:59over her decision to drop the reflecting pool vandalism case
01:03against former Olympian David Hearn.
01:06Although the Post reports prosecutors submitted the paperwork for this special grand jury
01:10before Pirro dropped the Hearn case.
01:13Special grand juries are rare, and legal experts tell the Post
01:17there is no known recent precedent for seeding one in Washington.
01:20Sometimes the most interesting part of a story never makes it into the headlines.
01:26That's why we created Unbiased Updates Off-Script,
01:29an exclusive show where we turn off the prompter for smart insights
01:33about the stories shaping your week.
01:35There is evidence, right, that it's foreign actors who are creating these accounts.
01:41Unscripted conversations, transparent reporting,
01:44and the context behind the headlines from the people who know the stories best.
01:48No spin or agenda.
01:50That website was only created one day before announcing his candidacy.
01:55Unbiased Updates Off-Script, Thursdays at Straight Arrow.
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