Trump's Department of Justice attempted to indict the six Democratic lawmakers who had posted the “illegal orders” video under 18 U.S.C. section 2387 — a sedition statute carrying a maximum 10-year prison sentence. The federal grand jury refused to return the indictment. Prosecutors failed to convince a single juror that reminding military members of their legal duty to refuse unlawful orders constituted a felony.
Former prosecutor Kyle Boynton said: “No lawyer, competent or otherwise, could have looked at the statute and concluded this plainly protected speech constituted a felony.” The prosecution effort was overseen by Judge Jeanine Pirro, a Trump loyalist with no prosecutorial independence.
Senator Slotkin said Trump sought to “weaponize our justice system.” Senator Kelly called it “an outrageous abuse of power.” Representative Houlahan called the grand jury's decision “a win for all Americans.”
The grand jury's refusal was a stunning rebuke — ordinary citizens empaneled by Trump's own DOJ looked at the case and unanimously rejected it. The attempt to criminally prosecute members of Congress for constitutionally protected speech represented one of the most direct assaults on the First Amendment and congressional independence in modern American history.