News / FJP Releases
Statement from FJP Executive Director Aramis Donell on Congressional Subpoenas of Local Prosecutors
September 17, 2026 (Washington, D.C.) — In the latest escalation of congressional efforts to insert federal political pressure into decisions traditionally made by locally elected prosecutors, the House Judiciary Committee has issued new subpoenas seeking information about local charging and plea decisions. The subpoenas follow months of congressional demands and investigations directed at prosecutors across the country regarding how they exercise their legal authority in their own jurisdictions. In response, Fair and Just Prosecution Executive Director Aramis Donell issued the following statement:
“Decisions about what charges to bring, what plea agreements to offer, and what sentences to seek should never be driven by political pressure or threats from officials who do not answer to the people in that community. Elected prosecutors alone are entrusted with making those decisions, and with that authority comes a responsibility to exercise their own judgment based on the Constitution, the law, the facts of each case, and what will best protect the communities they serve. Exercising that judgment is not optional. It is fundamental to the job.
“Accountability is crucial. Prosecutors must follow the law and ultimately answer to the communities that elected them for how they use their authority. But accountability does not give outside political officials the right to second-guess individual charging and plea decisions or demand different outcomes simply because they disagree with a prosecutor’s policies. There is a difference between legitimate oversight and using the power of the federal government to interfere with the independent judgment that local prosecutors are required to exercise.
“This is bigger than two prosecutors or one policy. No prosecutor should make decisions because they fear political retaliation. No community should have decisions about its criminal cases shaped by officials hundreds or thousands of miles away pursuing their own political agendas. Prosecutors must be free to follow the facts and the law. That independence helps ensure prosecutors can focus on what they were elected to do: seek justice and keep their communities safe.”