When politics intrude on the courtroom

This article about the DOJ's failed prosecution of a Florida professor (and anti-Israel fundraiser) is sprinkled with allusions to the defense's theory--that this was a "political prosecution," and I think they are sort of right. I couldn't help but wonder how the Left's virtually incessant accusations against the President's purported corruption and malevolence affected the trial. Certainly this administration--who would lie to take us to war for oil/revenge/fun, etc., is capable of prosecuting someone for exercising free speech, right?