Dems slam Trump admin after grand jury refuses to indict lawmakers
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Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, at the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., on Friday. Photo: Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty Images
A group of House and Senate Democrats denounced the Trump administration as they announced a grand jury declined to indict them over a video they appeared in urging service members to reject unlawful orders.
Why it matters: Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) and Rep. Maggie Goodlander (D-N.H.) both accused President Trump of directing the Department of Justice against the lawmakers, all military veterans or former national security personnel, over the November video.
- Trump had accused the lawmakers of "SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH" in response to the video that reminded the military and intelligence communities that "no one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution."
The big picture: NBC News first reported that U.S. attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro's office had failed to secure an indictment against the Democrats over the video featuring Slotkin, Goodlander and Reps. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan (Penn.) and Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.).
- Kelly, who's embroiled in a separate legal battle to stop Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's attempt to reduce the retired Navy Captain's ranking due to the video, on X called the indictment bid an "outrageous abuse of power by Donald Trump and his lackies."
- Representatives for the White House and Pirro's office did not immediately respond to Axios' Tuesday evening requests for comment.
What they're saying: Goodlander said in a statement to Axios, "President Trump directed the Justice Department to investigate me, arrest me, and hang me simply for doing my job.
- "Today an American grand jury honored our Constitution by standing up to an outrageous abuse of presidential power and taxpayer dollars. No matter the threats, I will keep doing my job and upholding my oath to our Constitution."
- Slotkin wrote on X Pirro attempted to persuade the jury to indict the Democrats "at the direction of President Trump, who said repeatedly that I should be investigated, arrested, and hanged for sedition," but said they upheld the rule of law.
- "Hopefully, this ends this politicized investigation for good," she said. "But today wasn't just an embarrassing day for the Administration. It was another sad day for our country," Slotkin added.
- "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. It's the kind of thing you see in a foreign country, not in the United States we know and love.
Zoom in: Deluzio said on Bluesky: "I will not be intimidated for a single second by the Trump Administration or DOJ lawyers who tried and failed to indict me today. 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."
- Crow posted a video to his social media channels on the matter:
Go deeper: Democrats say FBI is investigating them over video
Editor's note: This article has been updated with additional details throughout.
