Comer Opens Jury Nullification Probe of Two D.C. Activist Groups He Says Train Jurors to Hide Their Views and Acquit
House Oversight Chairman James Comer has opened an investigation into two Washington, D.C., activist groups that he says are training would-be jurors to hide their views during jury selection and acquit defendants for political reasons. In letters dated Oct. 13 to Free DC Executive Director Keya Chatterjee and Harriet's Wildest Dreams board member Qiana Johnson, Comer demanded documents on the groups' jury trainings, their outside advisers and their funding by Oct. 27. The Digital Free Press has asked both groups for comment and will update this story with any response.
Jury nullification is the term for a jury acquitting a defendant even when the evidence supports a conviction. A not-guilty verdict cannot be appealed, but jurors swear to apply the law as the judge instructs it, and lawyers are not permitted to urge a jury to ignore it.
"Free DC, in coordination with Harriet's Wildest Dreams, has held jury nullification training sessions to instruct potential jurors in how to navigate juror vetting and subvert lawful prosecutions in the District of Columbia," Comer wrote. "In conducting these trainings, your organization is blatantly facilitating the violation of the constitutional right to an impartial jury and undermining the rule of law in the District."
The Washington Examiner first reported on the trainings in August, and much of the committee's letters rest on that reporting and on a March report by the Washington Free Beacon.
WHAT THE JURY NULLIFICATION LETTERS SAY
The letters quote Johnson, described as a board member and "conductor of legal defense" for Harriet's Wildest Dreams, telling an Aug. 12 session: "You have this superpower, and that superpower is you are able to nullify that goddamn jury."
According to the letters, the groups hosted a session on July 15, 2026, advertised as a chance to "influence outcomes to help create a more equitable legal process," and told attendees that a juror can "use that role to protect our people especially those with marginalized identities." The letters say the sessions instruct attendees to present themselves as unbiased and to avoid revealing ties to prison-abolitionist groups during jury selection. They also cite a partner organization, Freedom Trainers, whose workshop materials reportedly advised: "never mention jury nullification. Don't signal the agenda."
Comer wrote that Free DC "is fiscally sponsored by organizations financed by left-wing dark money groups that fund other radical entities conducting jury nullification workshops," and he asked Free DC for its communications with Community Change and Community Change Action about funding for the events.
THE SEAN DUNN VERDICT
The letters tie the trainings to a specific case. According to the committee, Johnson told the Aug. 12 session that a juror in the prosecution of Sean Dunn, a former Justice Department employee, had likely attended one of the trainings. Dunn was charged with misdemeanor assault for throwing food at a law enforcement officer and was acquitted after a seven-hour deliberation, the letters say.
Comer quotes Johnson as saying: "That is what Jeanine Pirro is absolutely afraid of ... that is what the lawyers in Luigi [Mangione's] case is absolutely afraid of, because that power belongs to the people." The letters note that U.S. Attorney Pirro has said she suspects biased individuals have infiltrated juries to "upset the verdict."
"It is clear that the position of Free DC and Harriet's Wildest Dreams is that potential jurors should not make decisions impartially based on applying the law as instructed to the facts presented before them in the case, but based on their subjective, personal beliefs and activist agendas," Comer wrote.
On its website, Harriet's Wildest Dreams describes itself as "a Black-led abolitionist community defense hub centering all Black lives at risk for state-sanctioned violence in the Greater Washington, DC area." Free DC promoted a "Juror Teach-In" with the group on Instagram in September 2025, according to the letters' footnotes.
WHAT COMER WANTS BY OCT. 27
Both letters ask for records from Jan. 1, 2025, to the present: all documents and communications about "Juror Information Project Teach-In Series" events, including internal planning, communications with partner organizations, advertisements, presentations, recordings, materials given to attendees and attendee lists; all communications with outside advisers who helped with the events; and all records of funding or grants used to pay for them. The letters, copied to Ranking Member Robert Garcia, cite the committee's authority under House Rule X over "any matter" and over the "municipal affairs of the District of Columbia."
WHAT TDFP ASKED
On Oct. 14, TDFP emailed Free DC and Harriet's Wildest Dreams, with a deadline of 3 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, Oct. 15. TDFP asked Free DC whether it will provide the documents, what the trainings teach about answering questions during jury selection, how many sessions it has held and how many people attended, and how it responds to the claim that the trainings teach jurors to hide their views. TDFP asked Harriet's Wildest Dreams:
1. Is the quote accurate, and what was its context?
2. Is Harriet's Wildest Dreams still running these trainings with Free DC?
3. Will the organization provide the documents the committee requested?
4. Is Ms. Johnson still on the board?
TDFP has asked both groups for comment and will update this story with any response.
Hold Everyone Accountable.
Sources: House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform press release (Oct. 13, 2026); Chairman Comer's letters to Free DC and Harriet's Wildest Dreams (Oct. 13, 2026); harrietsdreams.org.
Images: Cover photo of the Rayburn House Office Building, U.S. Capitol (USCapitol on Flickr), public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; House of Representatives seal, public domain.
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