Fail to secure indictment for political witch-hunt..

Prosecutors fail to secure indictment against 6 Dem lawmakers

A grand jury rejected the case against the lawmakers involved in a video urging military members to refuse illegal orders.

By Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney

Federal prosecutors tried and failed Tuesday to obtain a criminal indictment of six Democratic lawmakers who took part in a video last year urging military personnel to refuse to carry out illegal orders, two people briefed on the development said.

The rejection of the case against the six lawmakers — who include Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan — was the latest extraordinary brushback by a grand jury of Washington, D.C., residents to a case brought by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, the top federal prosecutor in the capital.

“Today, it was a grand jury of anonymous American citizens who upheld the rule of law and determined this case should not proceed. Hopefully, this ends this politicized investigation for good,” Slotkin said in a statement shortly after NBC and The New York Times reported the grand jury’s decision. “But today wasn’t just an embarrassing day for the Administration. It was another sad day for our country.”

The people who were briefed on the grand jury’s action were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the events publicly.

The other lawmakers Pirro sought to charge over their involvement in the November video are Reps. Jason Crow of Colorado and Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire, as well as Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan, both of Pennsylvania. It was not immediately clear what charge or charges prosecutors sought.

A spokesperson for Pirro’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The six Democrats, who have national security or military backgrounds, participated in a video encouraging members of the military to refuse illegal orders — a message that came amid growing doubts about the legality of the Trump administration’s air strikes on alleged drug boats bound for the U.S. from overseas.

Grand juries, made up of local D.C. residents, have been turning down indictments proposed by Trump administration prosecutors at a historic clip. This case in particular had drawn attention from Trump, who repeatedly posted that Kelly and his colleagues had committed sedition.

“Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL,” Trump wrote. At one point, the president suggested the lawmakers should be put to death. He later retreated from that comment, but some lawmakers said it prompted them to receive death threats.

Trump’s salvos were followed quickly by evidence that the FBI had begun inquiring with officials on Capitol Hill about the conduct of the six lawmakers. In recent weeks, they also received requests from Pirro’s office to submit to interviews about the video. Several lawmakers said publicly they had declined.

In a related move, Pentagon leaders sought to punish Kelly with a demotion that threatens his retirement pay. Kelly has sued Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to block the decision, saying it’s an attack on Kelly’s First Amendment-protected views and also barred by constitutional protections that Congress enjoys from executive branch punishment.

Under federal law, a grand jury indictment is required to charge a defendant with a felony. To get an indictment, at least 12 of the between 16 and 23 members of the panel must vote to find probable cause to proceed with the charge.