By Sarah Davis, The Hill
A grand jury on Tuesday, February 10, refused to indict a coalition of Democratic lawmakers over their participation in a controversial “illegal orders” video last fall.
The failed federal indictment was pursued by the office of U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro, as first reported by The New York Times.
The lawmakers urged military service members and intelligence community personnel to defy illegal orders in a joint video statement released in November. The video followed the Trump administration’s decision to carry out deadly boat strikes in the Caribbean.
“We know you are under enormous stress and pressure right now, Americans trust their military, but that trust is at risk. This administration is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens like us. You all swore an oath to protect and defend this constitution,” the lawmakers said in the video.
President Trump called the video “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” in a post on Truth Social. He later suggested the lawmakers should be prosecuted, removed from office, imprisoned and even killed.
The video featured Democratic legislators with military and intelligence backgrounds, including Sens. Elissa Slotkin (Mich.) and Mark Kelly (Ariz.) and Reps. Jason Crow (Colo.), Chrissy Houlahan (Pa.), Chris Deluzio (Penn.) and Maggie Goodlander (N.H.).
The FBI had previously requested interviews with all six members of Congress, and the lawmakers said in January that they were under investigation by the Justice Department. The Times reported that federal prosecutors were seeking to indict lawmakers for breaching a law forbidding interfering with the U.S. military’s loyalty, morale or discipline.
he Hill has reached out to the U.S. attorney’s office for comment.
Several lawmakers responded to the news on the social platform X late Tuesday night. Slotkin, a former CIA analyst, confirmed she was named in the federal indictment.
“Today, it was a grand jury of anonymous American citizens who upheld the rule of law and determined this case should not proceed,” Slotkin said. “Hopefully, this ends this politicized investigation for good.
“But today wasn’t just an embarrassing day for the Administration,” she continued. “It was another sad day for our country. Because whether or not Pirro succeeded is not the point. It’s that President Trump continues to weaponize our justice system against his perceived enemies.”
Deluzio similarly condemned the Trump administration’s attempts to charge him and his fellow lawmakers. “I will not be intimidated for a single second by the Trump Administration or Justice Department lawyers who tried and failed to indict me today,” he said. “American citizens on a grand jury refused to go along with this attempt to charge me with a crime for stating the law in a way Trump and his enablers didn’t like. They may want Americans to be afraid to speak out or to disagree—but patriotism demands courage in this moment. DON’T GIVE UP THE SHIP!”
Kelly called the indictment “an outrageous abuse of power by Donald Trump and his lackies.” “It wasn’t enough for Pete Hegseth to censure me and threaten to demote me, now it appears they tried to have me charged with a crime — all because of something I said that they didn’t like,” he wrote. “That’s not the way things work in America. 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.”
Crow on Wednesday night also confirmed the indictment. “Donald Trump’s DOJ just tried—and failed—to indict me in front of a grand jury, he said in a statement. “Americans should be furious that Trump and his goons tried to weaponize our justice system again against his political opponents. His attempts to intimidate and silence us will always fail.”
“We will continue to fight back against their rising tyranny, along with all Americans of good conscience. Courage is contagious,” he added.