An unusual dispute between U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office and a federal magistrate judge who declined to return an indictment this week, saying it was probably unlawful, is scheduled for a hearing Friday afternoon before Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg.

Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui has condemned police and prosecutors’ tactics since President Donald Trump ordered a surge of federal law enforcement in the nation’s capital in August. In remarks from the bench and written rulings, Faruqui has described law enforcement officials as trampling people’s rights and charging dozens of felonies only to dismiss or downgrade the weaker cases days later, after the defendants spent time in jail. Advertisement

Pirro, in turn, has defended her policy of seeking the maximum possible

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