Another one bites the dust. A grand jury just handed the Trump administration yet another embarrassing rejection, this time refusing to indict Democratic lawmakers who dared to remind military members they can refuse illegal orders.
You’d think by now they’d learn, but here we are again watching federal prosecutors swing and miss. The grand jury’s Tuesday decision marks the second high-profile case in recent months where Trump’s Justice Department couldn’t even clear the incredibly low bar of getting an indictment. Remember when they tried going after New York Attorney General Letitia James in December? Yeah, that didn’t work out either.
The Video That Sparked Trump’s Fury
The whole thing started last November when six Democratic lawmakers released a video. Nothing inflammatory, nothing crazy, just a straightforward reminder to active duty troops about their rights. Senators Elissa Slotkin and Mark Kelly, along with Representatives Chrissy Houlahan, Chris Deluzio, Maggie Goodlander, and Jason Crow put together what should have been an unremarkable public service announcement.
But Trump being Trump, he completely lost it. He called their actions “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” All caps and everything, because apparently that makes it more official or something.
The prosecutors argued the lawmakers violated some statute about interfering with military loyalty and morale. Which is rich, considering the video literally just reminded service members of their existing legal rights. It’s like prosecuting someone for reading the Constitution out loud.
When Politics Becomes Prosecution
This isn’t just about one failed indictment. It’s about a pattern of trying to use the justice system as a cudgel against anyone who questions or criticizes the administration. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth even opened an investigation into Kelly and threatened to demote his military rank. Let that sink in for a second.
Kelly’s response on Tuesday was pointed and justified. “This is an outrageous abuse of power by Donald Trump and his lackies,” he wrote, noting they weren’t satisfied with just censuring him. They wanted criminal charges too, all because he said something they didn’t like.
The fact that grand juries keep refusing to play along is actually kind of remarkable. These aren’t exactly high bars to clear. Grand juries notoriously indict at incredibly high rates because they only hear one side of the story. The old saying goes that a decent prosecutor could get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich.
But even with that built-in advantage, Trump’s Justice Department keeps face-planting. That tells you something about how weak these cases really are. When you can’t even convince a grand jury that’s only hearing from your own prosecutors, you’ve got nothing.
The Chilling Effect That Failed
The strategy seems pretty obvious in hindsight. Go after high-profile critics, make their lives hell with investigations and threats, and hope everyone else gets scared enough to stay quiet. It’s textbook authoritarian playbook stuff.
What they didn’t count on was actual resistance from the institutions they’re trying to weaponize. Grand juries are supposed to be rubber stamps in these situations, but they’re refusing to play their assigned role. That’s actually a pretty big deal for anyone worried about democratic backsliding.
These lawmakers did nothing wrong by reminding military members of their legal obligations. In fact, you could argue they did something necessary and patriotic. The military takes an oath to the Constitution, not to any individual president, and members absolutely have the right and duty to refuse illegal orders.
The fact that stating this obvious truth got them branded as seditious and targeted for prosecution should worry everyone, regardless of political affiliation. Because once you normalize going after elected officials for protected speech, nobody’s safe.
