Grand jury declines to indict Democrats asking troops to refuse illegal orders | Democrats
A Washington DC grand jury declined to indict six Democratic lawmakers denounced by Donald Trump after they made a video calling on troops to refuse illegal orders.
Federal prosecutors had sought an indictment against Democrats who participated in the video, including Elissa Slotkin, Mark Kelly, Jason Crow, Chris Deluzio, Maggie Goodlander and Chrissy Houlahan, all of whom have military and intelligence backgrounds.
Slotkin, a former CIA officer, organized the video in which lawmakers claim officers can resist illegal orders. Trump was outraged by the clip and described it as “seditious behavior by traitors” that was “punishable by death.”
In response to news of the failed indictment, Kelly described it as an “outrageous abuse of power by Donald Trump and his lackeys.”
“It wasn’t enough for Pete Hegseth to censor me and threaten to demote me, now it appears they tried to frame me for a crime – all because of something I said that they didn’t like,” Kelly said. “This is not how things work in America. Donald Trump wants all Americans to be too afraid to speak out against him. The most patriotic thing any of us can do is not back down.”
Slotkin said in a statement Tuesday that the video “simply cited the law” and that Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney, tried to persuade a grand jury to indict him at Trump’s direction.
“Today it was a grand jury of anonymous American citizens who stood up for the rule of law and decided that this case should not proceed,” Slotkin said, describing it as “another sad day for our country.” “Because the issue isn’t whether Pirro succeeded or not. It’s that President Trump continues to weaponize our justice system against his perceived enemies. This is the kind of thing you see in a foreign country, not in the United States we know and love.”
The Justice Department had recently requested to interview Slotkin, the Michigan senator announced last month. Slotkin said she sent a letter to Bondi and Pirro informing them she would not pursue their requests and urged them to preserve their records in case she decided to pursue legal action.
“I’m not going to legitimize their actions,” Slotkin said. “Our constitution is very clear on the issue of freedom of speech – something worth fighting for. To be honest, many lawyers have told me to shut up, keep my head down and I hope this all goes away.
“But that’s exactly what the Trump administration and Jeanine Pirro want. They are deliberately using physical and legal intimidation to silence me. But, more importantly, they are using this intimidation to dissuade others from speaking out against their administration.”
