Having skirted a grand jury indictment, members of the “Seditious Six” turned a victory lap into a new round of demonization with claims about a “weaponized” Department of Justice.
The Washington, D.C. swamp proved favorable to Democrats once again on Tuesday when a grand jury refused to indict the leftist lawmakers who called on U.S. service members to “refuse illegal orders” in November. As a result, those same legislators set to spinning the outcome as a win “for the Constitution, our freedom of speech, and the rule of law” while redoubling their vitriol for President Donald Trump.
According to the Associated Press, “It wasn’t immediately clear whether prosecutors had sought indictments against all six lawmakers or what charge or charges prosecutors attempted to bring,” as it became apparent that the grand jury would not sign off on charges presented by the DOJ. The rejections were dubbed “extraordinarily unusual” as the AP pointed out they’d “happened repeatedly in recent months” when presented with evidence by the government.
The grand jury rejection came less than three months after Democrat Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, and Reps. Jason Crow of Colorado, Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire, as well as Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, released a video urging U.S. service members, “You must refuse illegal orders.”
That video prompted the moniker “Seditious Six” as Trump himself described the video as “seditious behavior,” while others cited a criminal code that prohibits “knowingly advising, counseling, or urging any member of the U.S. military to disobey, desert, or refuse lawful orders, with intent to interfere with military operations or loyalty.”
Despite that, the lawmakers set out to leverage the narrative in their favor as Kelly, who filed a lawsuit against Secretary of War Pete Hegseth over the cabinet official’s move to demote his military rank over the video, posted to X, “This is an outrageous abuse of power by Donald Trump and his lackies.”
“It wasn’t enough for Pete Hegseth to censure me and threaten to demote me; now it appears they tried to have me charged with a crime — all because of something I said that they didn’t like,” claimed the Arizona senator. “That’s not the way things work in America. Donald Trump wants every American to be too scared to speak out against him. The most patriotic thing any of us can do is not back down.”
This is an outrageous abuse of power by Donald Trump and his lackies. It wasn’t enough for Pete Hegseth to censure me and threaten to demote me, now it appears they tried to have me charged with a crime — all because of something I said that they didn’t like. That’s not the way… https://t.co/sXFN3j5Oww
— Senator Mark Kelly (@SenMarkKelly) February 11, 2026
Likewise, Slotkin, who with Houlahan had refused to comply with DOJ requests for interviews, continued to defend the video, claiming that she and her peers were simply quoting the law while denigrating U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro.
“Pirro did this at the direction of President Trump, who said repeatedly that I should be investigated, arrested, and hanged for sedition,” wrote the former CIA analyst. “Hopefully, this ends this politicized investigation for good. But today wasn’t just an embarrassing day for the Administration. It was another sad day for our country. Because whether or not Pirro succeeded is not the point. It’s that President Trump continues to weaponize our justice system against his perceived enemies. It’s the kind of thing you see in a foreign country, not in the United States we know and love.”
Today, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro attempted to persuade a Grand Jury to indict me. This was in response to me organizing a 90-second video that simply quoted the law. Pirro did this at the direction of President Trump, who said repeatedly that I should be investigated, arrested,…
— Sen. Elissa Slotkin (@SenatorSlotkin) February 11, 2026
Slotkin went on to deem the grand jury indictment rejection a win “for the Constitution, our freedom of speech, and the rule of law.”
Meanwhile, throwing in his own two cents, Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy (D) appeared to use the situation to ramp up rhetoric as he called on CEOs, university presidents, and “other responsible leaders” to “get off the f*cking sidelines” as the oft-touted line that no one is above the law was readily discarded.
What happened to no one is above the law?
— Vincent 🇮🇪 (@Seamus067) February 11, 2026
“Senators are above the law” that’s your position.
Got it.
— Paul Ziffer (@paul_ziffer) February 11, 2026
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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