The Justice Department encountered a significant setback this week when a grand jury chose not to indict six members of Congress, all Democrats, who appeared in a video urging military personnel to refuse illegal orders, reports Baltimore Chronicle via ABC News.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, D.C., had sought to pursue federal charges against Senators Mark Kelly and Elissa Slotkin, as well as Representatives Maggie Goodlander, Jason Crow, Chrissy Houlahan, and Chris DeLuzio. These lawmakers, each with backgrounds in the military or intelligence, posted the video in November following a classified briefing about strikes on alleged drug boats in Latin America. The video advised current service members that, according to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, they are legally entitled to refuse unlawful orders.
The effort to obtain indictments came after former President Donald Trump publicly called for their arrest and trial, posting on social media on November 20 that “Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL.” Despite the DOJ’s efforts under U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, the grand jury declined to issue any indictments.
Grand jury decisions to reject indictments are highly uncommon. According to the DOJ’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, in fiscal year 2016, only six out of 69,451 federal felony defendants faced a grand jury vote of no bill. However, the department has encountered multiple similar outcomes recently, particularly in cases involving critics of the administration.
Legal experts note the rarity of this occurrence. Andrew Leipold, a professor at the University of Illinois specializing in the federal judiciary, told ABC News, “The most obvious answer is that the government is being aggressive in prosecuting federal crimes, and grand juries are simply not in agreement.” Vice President JD Vance has emphasized that these actions are “driven by law and not by politics.”
This development follows earlier DOJ setbacks. In November, a federal judge dismissed cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, citing unconstitutional appointments and unlawful procedures by Trump’s interim U.S. attorney, Lindsey Halligan. Attempts to refile the case against James were again rejected by two federal grand juries in Virginia, prompting her attorney, Abbe Lowell, to call the proceedings “unprecedented” and assert that the case should never have been filed.
Additional high-profile cases have also faltered. Last August, prosecutors failed to obtain an indictment against Sean Charles Dunn, who allegedly threw a sandwich at a Customs and Border Protection officer during the National Guard’s deployment in Washington, D.C. Similarly, multiple attempts to indict Sidney Reid for an alleged assault on an FBI agent during a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement inmate transfer were unsuccessful, according to court records. These repeated rejections highlight ongoing challenges faced by the DOJ in prosecuting politically sensitive or publicly scrutinized cases.
Earlier we wrote that Pope Leo XIV names Checchio 15th Archbishop of New Orleans after Aymond retires at 76
