Grand jury refuses to indict Democratic lawmakers who urged troops to violate illegal orders

A grand jury in the nation’s capital on Tuesday rejected the Justice Department’s attempt to indict a group of Democratic lawmakers who encouraged US troops to ignore “illegal” orders in a video posted online.

The DOJ opened an investigation into a video featuring six Democratic lawmakers asking the military and members of the intelligence community to defy illegal orders from the federal government. Lawmakers all work in the military or intelligence agencies.

The lawmakers in the video were Sens. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Mark Kelly of Arizona, and Reps. Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire and Jason Crow of Colorado.

“This administration is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence services against American citizens,” the lawmakers said in the video. “Like all of us, you swore to protect and defend this Constitution. Currently, threats to our Constitution do not come from abroad but from right here at home. Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders. You must refuse illegal orders. No one should carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution.”

DEM SENATOR SAYS FEDERAL INVESTIGATION OVER VIDEO ‘ILLEGAL ORDERS’

Grand juries have refused to sign indictments against lawmakers, according to the Associated Press. It is unclear whether prosecutors have pursued all six attorneys or any of the cases they tried to file.

Prosecutors can still try to find a case to get a case against the Democrats.

President Donald Trump accused the lawmakers of being “traitors” involved in “high-level treason” and “should be arrested.” He even suggested that they should be killed for this video, although he later tried to answer that.

Slotkin, who previously worked at the CIA and the Defense Department, was the target of a bomb threat days after the clip and Trump’s subsequent statements suggesting that Democrats be killed.

SEN MARK KELLY DIGHS ABOUT ‘ILLEGAL ORDER’, TELLS JIMMY KIMMEL HE’S ‘NOT BACK DOWN’

President Donald Trump accused the lawmakers of being “traitors” involved in “high-level treason.” (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

“Tonight we can strike another blow to the Constitution, our freedom of speech, and the rule of law,” Slotkin said in a statement Tuesday. “But today was not just a shameful day for the Administration. It was another sad day for our country.”

Kelly, a former Navy pilot, called the impeachment effort “an outrageous abuse of power by Donald Trump and his administration.”

“Donald Trump wants every American to be too afraid to speak out against him,” Kelly told X. “The most patriotic thing any of us can do is not to back down.”

In November, the Pentagon launched an investigation into Kelly, citing a federal law that allows retired service members to be returned to active duty at the order of the secretary to face court-martial or other punishment.

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth has accused Kelly and is trying to demote Kelly from his position as a retired captain for his participation in the video, asserting that refusing illegal orders is a normal part of military procedure.

Prosecutors may also try to find charges against Democrats. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

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“As a retired Navy Captain who still receives a military pension, Captain Kelly knows he will still be held accountable to military justice,” Hegseth wrote in the X post on Jan. 5.

Kelly responded by suing Hegseth to block the allegations, which he called an unconstitutional act of retaliation.

During a hearing last week, the judge appeared skeptical of key statements made by a federal attorney defending Hegseth’s move last month to impeach the Arizona senator.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.