WASHINGTON — U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office moved to dismiss felony charges Thursday against a man it accused of threatening President Donald Trump and said prosecutors will instead pursue low-level vandalism charges in D.C. Superior Court.

The move is an extraordinary walk-back by Pirro’s office, which last month accused Edward Dana of threatening to kill the president of the United States. Dana’s is one of at least nine cases known so far in which grand juries have declined to indict on charges brought by prosecutors.

Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui, a former assistant U.S. attorney with the federal prosecutor’s office in D.C., sharply criticized the carelessness with which he said cases have been filed en masse during the federal surge in the city. He said Dana, who was held in jail for approximately a week following his arrest, deserved at minimum an apology from the government.

“Why is the government not out of sheer embarrassment and shame seeking to dismiss with prejudice and expunge the record?” Faruqui asked.

Faruqui also sharply criticized the U.S. attorney’s office for sending a line prosecutor to file the motion, saying leadership should take responsibility when the office moves to dismiss a case.

“When I was an AUSA and something had to be dismissed or a difficult decision had to be made, the criminal chief appeared. The U.S. attorney appeared,” Faruqui said. “Because that’s what leaders do. That’s leading from the front.”