A federal grand jury has rejected charges against six Democratic lawmakers over a video urging troops to refuse illegal orders, a major setback for prosecutors.
WASHINGTON: A federal grand jury has rejected attempts to indict six Democratic lawmakers over a social media video urging military personnel to refuse illegal orders. The decision marks a significant setback for federal prosecutors and follows public outrage from former President Donald Trump, who had demanded jail time for the legislators.
Sources told the New York Times and Washington Post that the grand jury in Washington denied the Justice Department’s bid. The video, posted in November, featured lawmakers calling on service members to “refuse illegal orders.”
The Democrats involved are Arizona’s Mark Kelly, Michigan’s Elissa Slotkin, Colorado’s Jason Crow, Pennsylvania’s Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan, and New Hampshire’s Maggie Goodlander. All have backgrounds in the military or US intelligence agencies.
In a statement, Slotkin said the 90-second clip “simply quoted the law.” She added, “Hopefully, this ends this politicized investigation for good.”
Deluzio stated on X that he “will not be intimidated for a single second by the Trump Administration.” He noted that citizens on the grand jury “refused to go along with this attempt to charge me with a crime for stating the law.”
The Post described the failure as “exceedingly rare” for federal prosecutors, who only need to convince a majority of grand jurors of probable cause. The lawmakers never specified which orders to refuse in their video.
Trump has heavily utilised the military during his second term for domestic immigration enforcement and foreign strikes. He ordered the National Guard into US cities and authorised lethal operations against alleged drug-smuggling boats.
After the video circulated, Trump posted on Truth Social calling the lawmakers “TRAITORS” who “SHOULD BE IN JAIL.” He later labelled the act “SEDITION AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL” and suggested it was “punishable by DEATH!”
In November, the Pentagon considered a court-martial against Kelly, a former astronaut. Democratic lawmakers also accused Trump of using the FBI to “intimidate” Congress after the agency requested interviews.
Referencing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Kelly wrote on X, “Donald Trump wants every American to be too scared to speak out against him. The most patriotic thing any of us can do is not back down.”