A senior Justice Department official said Friday that the Trump administration will continue pressing for criminal charges against former CNN anchor Don Lemon after a federal magistrate declined to approve an indictment.
“We are going to do it because that’s what is required for justice here,” Harmeet Dhillon told SiriusXM’s “The Megyn Kelly Show” on Friday.
Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for civil rights, said the Justice Department is weighing charges under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, a 1994 federal law that also covers interference with religious worship, as well as potential conspiracy statutes.
She said prosecutors believe they have already established “the predicates for pursuing FACE Act and conspiracy” charges, based largely on Lemon’s own videos and statements.
Dhillon said federal prosecutors moved “aggressively and very rapidly” after reviewing footage Lemon posted of himself during the Sunday protest at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, where activists disrupted a worship service.
According to Dhillon, DOJ teams were deployed “to the ground,” gathered affidavits and other evidence, and relied on what she characterized as Lemon’s “admissions against interest in his own videos.”
“For 48 hours between the time that we sought these arrest warrants and the time that we were able to make arrests,” Dhillon said, the department remained unable to comment publicly after a magistrate refused to approve part of the government’s request.
“He is not out of legal jeopardy,” Dhillon said of Lemon.
“He has lawyered up. He has a prominent lawyer, and we’re going to pursue this to the ends of the Earth.”
DOJ: We are STILL going after Don Lemon@HarmeetKDhillon @AAGDhillon tells @MegynKelly: “We are going to do it, because that’s what is required for justice here…There are next moves in court in multiple directions.”
WATCH:https://t.co/YJPxz5Gu8d pic.twitter.com/P5zQWHqWJQ
— The Megyn Kelly Show (@MegynKellyShow) January 23, 2026
more over at The New York Post:
DOJ official vows prosecution of Don Lemon after church protest: ‘We’re going to pursue this to the ends of the Earth’ https://t.co/0evVRrgmZm pic.twitter.com/j0aGbL6MiY
— New York Post (@nypost) January 23, 2026
