prosecutorial

This would not be the first time that political considerations influenced a prosecutorial decision.

Keenan claimed the deal was “a pure exercise of prosecutorial discretion.”

Because, he wrote for the court, the president has “exclusive authority over the investigative and prosecutorial functions of the Justice Department and its officials.”

“It's just not something that you typically see and, historically, there would be an exercise of prosecutorial discretion, not making a federal case out of something relatively minor.”

Keenan said he believed the court was legally obligated to do so, claiming the deal was “a pure exercise of prosecutorial discretion.”