LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) faces up to 17 years in prison for an incident where she briefly made physical contact with federal law enforcement officers who were attempting to arrest another elected Democrat, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. (…)

McIver is charged under a federal law that targets anyone who “forcibly assaults, resists, opposes, impedes, intimidates, or interferes” with a federal law enforcement officer carrying out their official duties. There’s no question that McIver, who joined a group of people attempting to block federal agents from seizing Baraka, impeded or interfered with that arrest. But she only committed a crime if she did so “forcibly,” and the Trump administration’s claim that she did is quite a stretch.

A video of Baraka’s arrest shows a chaotic scrum where officers repeatedly laid hands on McIver. McIver also made contact with the officers a few times; in the most significant interaction, she appears to have placed her forearm on an officer who had just knocked her off balance and pushed him away.

It may be unlikely that a jury would convict McIver, but the mere fact that she must hire lawyers to defend herself places an extraordinary burden on her. House ethics rules prevent her from accepting pro bono legal counsel, so she must either pay for her legal defense — which could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars or more out of pocket — or use campaign funds to pay her attorneys.