As the news broke Thursday that the FBI had begun making arrests in Minnesota over the mob invasion of Cities Church in St. Paul, another stunning detail emerged — and it tells you everything about how the system still protects the politically useful.
According to early reports, a magistrate judge refused to sign off on charges against what sources described as “the biggest name involved” in the stunt: disgraced former CNN host Don Lemon.
Let that sink in.
The ringleaders were being hauled off in cuffs. Organizers were being charged. The Department of Justice was finally moving. And yet, when it came time to hold the celebrity instigator accountable — the man who hyped the ambush, livestreamed it, and helped legitimize it — suddenly the brakes were slammed.
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Activist judge much? More:
A magistrate judge rejected federal prosecutors’ bid to charge journalist Don Lemon related to the church protest, a person familiar with the matter said Thursday.
The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the ongoing investigation.
Lemon was among those on who entered the church. Lemon has said he is not affiliated with the protest organizers and was there chronicling as a journalist.
USA Journal has independently confirmed that the judge refused to approve charges against Lemon. He asserts that he was present at the protest, which involved members of the “Racial Justice Network” and appeared to focus on anti-ICE advocacy, claiming he was performing an “act of journalism.”
The reasons why the judge didn’t sign off on the charges isn’t clear right now, but I have a fairly good idea we’re going to find out it’s because he’s a lib posing as a judge:
What we don’t know yet — and is a signficant question — is whether the Magistrate who refused to sign the complaint for Don Lemon did so because he wasn’t convinced the facts set forth provided PC for the criminal charge alleged, or he wasn’t convinced that the charge itself is legally applicable to the conduct alleged in the affidavit.
Normally we would not see a rejected criminal complaint because it’s not posted on the Court’s docket and Lemon is not otherwise charged so DOJ’s policy is to not comment about him.
The question now is — if he was only going to be charged with a FACT Act misdemeanor, will DOJ now charge him via Information and simply bypass the need for a Complaint.
They could do that today.
And no — this story is far from over.
The magistrate’s refusal to sign off on charges Thursday morning doesn’t mean Don Lemon is in the clear. The Department of Justice still has a powerful option on the table: charging him by Information, which bypasses the need for a judge’s initial sign-off and moves the case directly into formal prosecution.
In other words, the celebrity shield may crack yet.
