The Justice Department is facing a Tuesday deadline to comply with a federal judge’s order to release grand jury records related to former CNN anchor Don Lemon’s indictment.
Judge Laura Provinzino, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, ordered the DOJ to provide her with certain grand jury materials as prosecutors battle over whether grounds exist to toss the case against Lemon. Her move comes after Lemon’s legal team in late May asked her to order the release of transcripts from the grand jury indictment.
The materials the Minnesota judge requested in her Aug. 18 order include presentations made by prosecutors and case agents, as well as the totality of communications prosecutors had with grand jurors that resulted in their indictments, according to CNN. Provinzino also told the DOJ to provide any introduction, legal instructions, witness testimony, closing arguments, and answers to questions from grand jurors. She did not say she had already found evidence of any misconduct.
The saga began on Jan. 18, when Lemon was part of a group of protestors that interrupted a church service to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Demonstrators were targeting one of the pastors at the church who works for ICE. Lemon has said he accompanied the protestors at Cities Church in St. Paul in a freelance reporting role to live-stream the episode.
The government argued Lemon’s actions violated the First Amendment’s right to worship and freedom of religion. Lemon argued his actions were protected under the First Amendment’s protections for the press and protestors.
In February, Lemon was indicted alongside multiple protestors on several charges that could result in a year in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.
The charges include conspiracy against rights and injuring, intimidating, or interfering with the exercise of religious freedom at a place of worship under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. That law prohibits interference or intimidation of “any person by force, threat of force, or physical obstruction exercising or seeking to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship.”
The former CNN anchor has maintained his not guilty plea. He is seeking to have the charges dismissed, arguing that he was not participating in the protest, as the government alleges, but rather reporting on it.
“I will not be silenced. I have spent my entire career covering the news. I will not stop now,” Lemon told reporters after appearing in court in January. “… In fact, there is no more important time than right now, this very moment, for a free and independent media that shines a light on the truth and holds those in power accountable.”
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Prosecutors have argued Lemon did more than report. Lemon and other protesters at one point “largely surrounded” the pastor “in an attempt to oppress and intimidate him”, they alleged. Lemon “posted himself” at the main door to the church, “where he confronted some congregants and physically obstructed them as they tried to exit the Church building to challenge them with ‘facts’ about US immigration policy,” they argued.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the DOJ for comment.