If a federal grand jury hands down an indictment is the Attorney General compelled to prosecute the case?

If a federal grand jury issues an indictment, the local federal prosecutor (or an attorney in her/his office) is supposed to do SOMETHING with the case, if they're doing their job.


As a general rule, the federal grand jury issues an indictment only at the request of the federal prosecutor. The prosecutor might then prosecute the case, or he might use the indictment to threaten a person with prosecution unless they testify against someone else or give evidence of a more serious crime.


Which crimes to prosecute is solely at the discretion of the local federal prosecutors, and they generally won't ask for an indictment if they don't plan to pursue a case.If a federal grand jury hands down an indictment is the Attorney General compelled to prosecute the case?
More often than not, yes...but there is nothing that requires them to do so.