Trump administration fails to secure indictment in connection with Democrats involved in 'illegal orders' video

[LetMyPeopleVote]

President Donald Trump had accused six Democratic lawmakers of "seditious behavior" after they urged members of the military and intelligence communities to refuse unlawful orders.


https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/doj-fails-secure-indictment-democrats-involved-illegal-orders-video-rcna258385

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration tried and failed on Tuesday to secure an indictment in connection with a video featuring six Democratic lawmakers urging members of the military and intelligence communities not to comply with unlawful orders, three sources familiar with the matter told NBC News.

It was not clear how many of the lawmakers the Trump administration attempted to indict, or if the failed attempt will be addressed in a future court hearing.

The indictment pursued by the office of U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro is the latest example of the Justice Department targeting the president’s perceived political opponents. The government attorneys assigned to the case are political appointees, not career Justice Department prosecutors, according to a source familiar with the investigation.....

In addition to the First Amendment issues, the “speech or debate" clause of the Constitution gives lawmakers on Capitol Hill immunity from prosecution for acts taken within the legislative sphere, a fundamental check on the constitutional separation of powers.

Several Democrats involved in the video recently said they would not cooperate with the Justice Department's probe into the video.

Under longstanding Justice Department policy, the Public Integrity Section would normally have to sign off on every step of an investigation into a sitting member of Congress, especially a case with free speech and speech and debate considerations. But the Trump administration has dismantled the Public Integrity Section, eliminating checks meant to prevent the Justice Department's powers from being abused for political purposes.

[Hassler]

1. Crack open another juice box, Jeanine 😆

[sheshe2]

2. Watching on MS Now.

Good for the Grand jury!

[AllaN01Bear]

3. eggscllent

[barbtries]

4. they're so fucking stupid.

All they did was say follow the law. if krasnov and company had just endorsed that, which they're such profligate liars they could have done, there would be none of this. But no. they love their outrage so much that they did not even stop to think about just doing that. They could have ignored it. The PSA never said, "your commanders are telling you to break the law," but this disgusting bunch of fascists reacted as if they had.

If they had, they still would not have committed a prosecutable crime, because it's the truth.

[Bluetus]

8. They are about 0 for 30 on high profile cases, but that's not the point.

The term "weaponizing" has been overused so much that it has mostly lost its original meaning. But in this case, weaponizing the judicial system is exactly the point.

They are not trying to win any of these cases. They know these are absurd cases. Their goal is to intimidate, slander, stall, redirect, extort, and when those things fail, they at least want to punish people financially. The taxpayers pay Bondi's salary and the salaries of all the prosecutors, so what do they care? Who is paying Mark Kelly's legal costs (and all the others who have suffered this weaponization)?

That is the point. It isn't stupid. It is evil and impeachable, but not stupid. And it isn't really impeachable; because Republicans know that if they try to do the right thing, these same weapons will be used against them.

Where is the Bar Association? The people using our judicial system this was should all be disbarred from their profession for life.

[jonstl08]

5. Waste of money

How many times are they going to waste our tax dollars trying to go after people criticizing this administration?

[Johnny2X2X]

6. That title is totally inaccurate

"Trump administration fails to secure indictment in connection with Democrats involved in 'illegal orders' video"

This title suggests the Democrats in question were issuing illegal orders. This is intentionally misleading. The Dems weren't involved in illegal orders by video or any other way. The Dems produced a video reminding service men and women that their oath prevents them from obeying illegal orders.

A more accurate title would be Dems involved in video telling soldiers not to obey illegal orders.

This stuff matters! That title tells people who don't read the articles that Dems were doing something illegal.,

[LetMyPeopleVote]

7. Grand Jury Rebuffs Justice Dept. Attempt to Indict 6 Democrats in Congress (NYT Gift Subscription)

The rejection was a remarkable rebuke, suggesting that ordinary citizens did not believe that the lawmakers had committed any crimes.

Link to tweet

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/us/politics/trump-democrats-illegal-orders-pirro.html?unlocked_article_code=1.LVA.6CKn.AKtD2kERP9jk&smid=nytcore-ios-share

Federal prosecutors in Washington sought and failed on Tuesday to secure an indictment against six Democratic lawmakers who posted a video this fall that enraged President Trump by reminding active-duty members of the military and intelligence community that they were obligated to refuse illegal orders, four people familiar with the matter said.

It was remarkable that the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington — led by Jeanine Pirro, a longtime ally of Mr. Trump’s — authorized prosecutors to go into a grand jury and ask for an indictment of the six members of Congress, all of whom had served in the military or the nation’s spy agencies.

But it was even more remarkable that a group of ordinary citizens sitting on the grand jury in Federal District Court in Washington forcefully rejected Mr. Trump’s bid to label their expression of dissent as a criminal act warranting prosecution.

The move to charge the lawmakers — among them, Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona and Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan — was, by any measure, an extraordinary attempt by Trump appointees to politicize the criminal justice system even for a Justice Department that has repeatedly shattered norms of independence from the White House and followed Mr. Trump’s directives to prosecute his adversaries......

“President Trump is using the F.B.I. as a tool to intimidate and harass members of Congress,” the four House members who took part in the video said in a joint statement. “No amount of intimidation or harassment will ever stop us from doing our jobs and honoring our Constitution.”

Mr. Kelly is also facing a separate investigation by the Pentagon into what military officials described as “serious allegations of misconduct.”

[twodogsbarking]

9. So telling someone to not break the law is breaking the law?

Tell it to me like I am a Supreme Court Justice.

[Volaris]

10. Everything Dear Leader does is great, and dissent needs to be punished.'

There. I've just told you what the SC gets told every time trumps govt is standing in front of the Bench.

The PROBLEM IS, that half of them agree with that statement, instead of physically throwing law volumes at their head, and then kicking them out of court.

[MineralMan]

11. If those are the best prosecutors Pam Bondi can scare up,

the DOJ is worthless altogether.

[Martin68]

12. Another win for democracy.