Democrats Slam DOJ’s ‘Outrageous Abuse’ in Failed Indictment (1)

Democratic senators decried a reported Justice Department attempt to indict them and other lawmakers over a video encouraging military and intelligence community members to refuse to follow unlawful orders.

District of Columbia US Attorney Jeanine Pirro failed Tuesday to secure a grand jury indictment against Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), who organized the video, Slotkin said in a post on X Tuesday night.

“It was a grand jury of anonymous American citizens who upheld the rule of law and determined this case should not proceed,” Slotkin wrote.

“Hopefully, this ends this politicized investigation for good,” Slotkin said, adding the attempt is the latest in President Trump’s attempts to “weaponize our justice system against his perceived enemies.”

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and four House Democrats also appeared in the 90-second November video, in which they said military and intelligence community members can decline to comply with illegal orders.

“Now, more than ever, the American people need you,” the lawmakers said in the video.

Kelly responded to media reports of the failed indictment attempt, which he called “an outrageous abuse of power by Donald Trump and his lackies.”

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

The lawmakers’ video drew backlash from Trump, who posted on Truth Social shortly after that their remarks amounted to “seditious behavior” and called for them to be arrested.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also sent Kelly, a former US Navy officer, a letter of censure that threatened criminal prosecution and stated there was good cause to reconsider his retirement benefits. Kelly has challenged the Pentagon’s effort in a Washington federal trial court, arguing it infringes on his free speech rights. The judge is expected to rule imminently.

The DC US attorney’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Slotkin said during a press conference Wednesday that she and Kelly “have kept all of our legal options open as we go forward.”

The reported indictment attempt came ahead of Attorney General Pam Bondi’s testimony to the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday, where lawmakers largely focused questioning on the release of files on disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and the administration’s immigration enforcement agenda.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the committee’s ranking member, mentioned the failed indictment in his opening remarks, calling it the latest in the Trump administration’s attempt to prosecute the president’s perceived political enemies.

The politicized prosecutions, Raskin said, also included the indictments secured by former interim US Attorney Lindsey Halligan against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James (D).

“Just yesterday, another grand jury shut down your vendetta factory by rejecting indictments against the six members of Congress who have spoken out to remind all service members that they have a duty to refuse illegal orders,” Raskin said. He added that the lawmakers were “exercising their First Amendment rights.”

Some of the Democrats targeted by the indictment attempt previously said they declined to sit for an interview with DOJ as it conducted an inquiry into the video.

“I’m not going to legitimize their actions,” Slotkin said in a Feb. 5 video posted on X.

Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Penn.), who also appeared in the November video, said in her own video earlier this month that she also declined a DOJ interview request.

“Free speech is not a favor that the government can revoke,” Houlahan said at the time. “It is a right and I will not surrender it—for myself or for anyone else.”

Bloomberg Law reported Wednesday that Pirro tapped a dance photographer who previously worked for her as one of the prosecutors who attempted to secure an indictment against the lawmakers. Steven Vandervelden, who worked as a local prosecutor in Westchester County, N.Y., where Pirro was district attorney, declined to comment on the investigation into the lawmakers.