Grand jury declines to indict Kelly, Slotkin for seditious conspiracy
A federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., rejected prosecutors’ request to indict two Democratic U.S. senators, Mark Kelly of Arizona and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, on seditious conspiracy charges, MS Now reported Tuesday night.
The indictment against Kelly and Slotkin related to a November video in which they appeared with four other Democrats in Congress reminding members of the U.S. military that they had the right to refuse to carry out their superiors’ illegal orders.
New York Times reported that federal prosecutors unsuccessfully tried to indict Kelly and Slotkin, as well as four other Democrats. New Hampshire Rep. Maggie Goodlander and Pennsylvania Rep. Chris Deluzio later confirmed they were among six people reportedly targeted in the indictment.
The other two Democrats who made the video were Reps. Jason Crow of Colorado and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania.
It is extremely unusual for a grand jury to refuse to issue an indictment if the prosecutor requests one. An indictment is a charging document that a grand jury will issue if jurors agree that there is probable cause to believe that a crime has been committed.
President Donald Trump condemned Democrats after the video was made public on November 18.
Trump at the time accused them “ABOMINATIVE BEHAVIOR is punishable by DEATH!”
“This is an outrageous abuse of power by Donald Trump and his lackeys,” Kelly, a former U.S. Navy captain and NASA astronaut, said in a statement on X on Tuesday after news of the indictment effort broke.
“That wasn’t enough [Defense Secretary] I wanted Pete Hegseth to reprimand me and threaten to demote me, and now they’ve apparently tried to accuse me of a crime – all because of something I said they didn’t like. That’s not true,” Kelly said.
“Today, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro attempted to persuade the Grand Jury to indict me. This was in response to me editing a 90-second video containing quotes from the law,” former CIA analyst Slotkin said in a statement.
“Pirro did this at the direction of President Trump, who repeatedly told me that I should be investigated, arrested, and hanged for sedition,” Slotkin said. “Today there was a grand jury of anonymous American citizens who upheld the rule of law and decided that this case should not proceed. I hope this brings this politicized investigation to a complete end.”
“But today was not only a shameful day for the Administration. It was also a sad day for our country,” he said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Tuesday night that he believes the six Democrats who made the video by giving illegal orders to the military should be indicted.
“President Trump directed the Department of Justice to investigate, arrest, and hang me simply for doing my job,” Goodlander said in a statement. he said.
“Today, an American grand jury honored our Constitution by standing against an outrageous abuse of presidential power and taxpayer dollars,” Goodlander said. “Despite the threats, I will continue to do my job and uphold my oath to our Constitution.”
“I will not fear for a moment the Trump Administration or the Justice Department attorneys who tried and failed to indict me today. American citizens on the grand jury refused to participate in this attempt to indict me for expressing the law in a way that Trump and his supporters did not like,” Deluzio said in a statement.
“They may want Americans to be afraid to speak out or disagree, but patriotism takes courage right now. DON’T GIVE UP THE SHIP!” said Deluzio.
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