ISTANBUL

Amid mounting accusations that the Trump administration is using the US Justice Department to target political opponents, a nationwide association of defense lawyers has introduced a resource to monitor and geographically chart where that alleged "weapon" has been used, CBS News reported on Sunday.

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) has released an interactive platform allowing attorneys and members of the public to review controversial, atypical, or unsuccessful prosecution efforts undertaken by the Justice Department during the first year of Donald Trump’s second term.

Supported on a pro bono basis by a team of legal professionals, the online tracker highlights several prominent failed efforts attributed to the Justice Department.

Its mapping component illustrates a growing number of instances in which grand juries declined to issue indictments sought by the department against critics of the Trump administration, Democratic officials, or demonstrators.

Among the listed matters is the so-called "sandwich thrower" case, where a Washington, DC grand jury refused to indict a man accused of throwing a sandwich at a federal agent in 2025.

The platform is intended as a collaborative tool for defense attorneys nationwide, encouraging them to share relevant cases and draw insight from documented examples.

"What has been happening is so unusual and different that I felt that it needed to be brought to the public's attention," said Steven Salky, a D.C. attorney assisting in overseeing the initiative.

"I thought that this was a good way to help defense lawyers -- particularly federal defenders -- defend cases," Salky said.

"The Bill of Rights wasn't written to be a polite suggestion; it was written to be a shield against tyranny," said NACDL President Andrew Birrell of Minneapolis, in announcing the online tool.

"What we are seeing in courtrooms from the Midwest to the coasts is a fundamental, righteous rejection of the idea that criminal law can be used as a tool for political retribution," Birell said. "Jurors are seeing through these 'novel' and transparently thin theories. They are reminding this government that the people -- not the prosecutors -- hold the ultimate power in our justice system."

The tracker also documents instances in which the Justice Department faced allegations of "weaponized forum shopping."

In one example involving efforts to obtain an indictment in the US state of Virginia against New York Attorney General Letitia James, the department reportedly convened grand juries in Alexandria, Richmond, and Norfolk.

The platform displays these references layered onto a searchable national map, including highlighted locations within Virginia.