US Attorney Jeanine Pirro has empaneled a special grand jury in Washington, DC, overseen by longtime ally Steven Vandervelden, in a move legal experts say has no known recent precedent for the city, the Washington Post reported Wednesday. Who Is Steven Vandervelden? Path To DOJVandervelden holds the title of special counsel at the US Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, working in the front office alongside Pirro, according to NBC News. "Steven Vandervelden is one of the best prosecutors and best investigators that I have worked with in well over three decades in the criminal justice system," she said in a statement, adding that "any attempt to undercut his expertise is nothing more than an effort to detract from his excellent prosecutorial record to which few can compare." Niki Kuckes, a law professor at Roger Williams University, described special grand juries generally as "very unusual," according to the same report.