Former CBS News reporter Scott MacFarlane reported on Tuesday that Don Lemon’s lawyers are asking the Justice Department to dismiss its case against him.

The former CNN host, along with other local reporters, has been locked in a dispute with a Minneapolis prosecutor who alleges that journalists covering a protest at a church were part of the protest itself. Lemon and the other reporters have denied the charges and say they have video and interviews from that day showing they were acting as journalists.

The defendants have also raised concerns that Justice Department lawyers may have misled the grand jury in order to secure indictments against the journalists. Lemon and the other reporters, including investigative reporter Georgia Fort, sought access to the grand jury transcript so they could review what the grand jury was told and by whom. Last week, the judge ruled that the grand jury transcripts would be released to her for review, a step that now gives the court material to examine before deciding whether the case should proceed.

Now, Lemon’s lawyers want the case thrown out based on those materials, according to MacFarlane’s reporting and the court filing.

Lemon’s attorneys argue that the "government improperly posted defamatory comments & prejudicial photographs of certain defendants on social media," including posts by former Attorney General Pam Bondi.

"A continuation of the X post by the White House reposted commentary by former Attorney General Pam Bondi which stated that federal agents had executed the arrest of Ms. Armstrong 'at my direction,'" the court filing said. "The post also contained text stating, 'UPDATE: A second arrest has been made at my direction. Chautyll Louisa Allen has been taken into custody.' The White House also posted on its X page a photograph of Ms. Allen being arrested. The photograph appears to show Ms. Allen in a room where she is confined with two agents on each side."

The filing continued: "The Defendants are now on notice that the Government will not hesitate to publicize information about their cases — true or not. This could certainly have an impact on whether witnesses are willing to come forward to testify in this case (acknowledging witnesses' reluctance to testify when presented with 'spectacle' and 'repercussions')," the filing said.

Lemon and the others were charged under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, or FACE Act, which prohibits physical obstruction that interferes with people seeking or providing reproductive health services or exercising religious freedom at places of worship. According to the account, protesters began shouting during a church service, and journalists were present to report on it. Afterward, the Trump administration said the journalists were protesting alongside the others and therefore violated the FACE Act. The case has drawn attention beyond the courtroom because it sits at the intersection of protest policing, press coverage, and federal charging decisions, all while the court is already reviewing materials that could affect how the grand jury process is viewed.