The U.S. Department of Justice has brought several criminal cases under the Trump administration that have since been dismissed, blocked, or dropped by judges and juries. A Reuters review of federal court records completed in July 2026 found that the administration has charged at least 851 individuals with assaulting or impeding federal officers, but these cases have ended in dismissal at an unusually high rate compared to historical averages.
Federal prosecutors have dropped cases ranging from alleged vandalism of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to charges against political critics like New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey. The administrative efforts to prosecute these individuals often faced legal challenges regarding the authority of the prosecutors involved or the sufficiency of the evidence presented.
In July 2026, the Justice Department dropped its felony destruction of property case against 67-year-old former U.S. Olympian David Hearn. While the administration initially blamed vandals for damage to the $14.7 million Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool renovation, a July 31 court filing stated the liner damage was caused by a "flawed installation." In another case, Sean Dunn, a former Justice Department staffer, was cleared of misdemeanor assault charges in November 2025 after a jury trial. Prosecutors had initially sought felony charges for his throwing a sandwich at a Customs and Border Protection agent, but a grand jury declined to return a felony indictment.
For those charged, the legal process has resulted in immediate personal and financial consequences regardless of the final verdict. For example, Christian Garcia, a 32-year-old charged during a June 2025 immigration protest, was held for three days and lost two jobs after investigators contacted his employers; his case was later dropped in January 2026 without explanation. The dismissal of cases against officials like Letitia James and James Comey also involved legal questions regarding the appointment of U.S. attorneys. In November 2025, a federal judge dismissed charges against both James and Comey, ruling that the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney who brought the cases had been "unlawfully appointed."
Future legal actions remain pending as the administration continues to pursue other litigation. According to Lawfare's tracker, there are 333 active cases challenging administration actions and 7 criminal prosecutions by the Department of Justice as of September 4, 2026. This includes a second mortgage fraud investigation against Letitia James, which a Virginia grand jury declined to indict in December 2025, and a pending case against James Comey involving an April 2026 charge for allegedly threatening the president via a social media post. Upcoming court dates and deadlines for these remaining matters will determine whether the administration's current rate of dismissals continues.