[muawiyah]

Again, do you imagine you would be dealing only with BATF guys, or that they'd show up for trial without an army of federal lawyers, backed up by US Marshals and maybe the 82nd Airborne?

The US government pays for the legal defense of its employees who are charged with something they were doing as part of their jobs.

[ccmay]

The idea is to harass the Feds, and consume time and resources that would otherwise be used to oppress the people. Prevailing in court in court would take a back seat to engaging in irritating Alinskyite lawfare.