U.S. Reps. Chrissy Houlahan and Chris Deluzio respond to grand jury declining to indict Democrats over ‘refuse unlawful orders’ video
Six lawmakers were investigated over a video that instructed service members to "refuse illegal orders." President Trump accused them of sedition.
A grand jury in Washington refused to issue an indictment over the video in which U.S. Reps. Chrissy Houlahan and Chris Deluzio called on service members to “refuse illegal orders” alongside other House Democrats.
The Justice Department investigated the six lawmakers, all of whom previously served in the military or intelligence agencies, but a grand jury would not sign off on charges, the Associated Press reported.
Houlahan, of Chester, said in a social media post Tuesday night that the decision is “good news for for the Constitution and the free speech protections it guarantees.”
“The grand jury upheld the rule of law - this is a win for all Americans,” added Houlahan, a former Air Force Officer.
Deluzio, an Allegheny County Democrat who served in the Navy, said in a post Tuesday night that he “will not be intimidated for a single second by the Trump Administration or Justice Department lawyers who tried and failed to indict me today.”
“American citizens on a grand jury refused to go along with this attempt to charge me with a crime for stating the law in a way Trump and his enablers didn’t like,” he continued. “They may want Americans to be afraid to speak out or to disagree—but patriotism demands courage in this moment."
President Donald Trump accused the Democratic lawmakers of sedition “punishable by death” after they posted the video in November warning service members and intelligence workers to “refuse illegal orders.” In the video, they urged service members and intelligence professionals not to “give up the ship,” a sentiment Deluzio repeated Tuesday night.
» READ MORE: What does sedition actually mean? Here’s what to know about Trump’s accusation against Democratic lawmakers.
The Democrats did not mention any specific orders in the video but lawmakers who appeared in the video expressed concerns at the time about attacks in Venezuela and National Guard operations in U.S. cities.
The video also included U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D., Mich.), a former CIA officer, U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly (D., Ariz.), a former Navy captain, U.S. Rep. Maggie Goodlander (D., N.H.) a former intelligence officer, and U.S. Rep. Jason Crow (D., Colo.) a former paratrooper and Army Ranger.
The lawmakers were contacted by the FBI late last year.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether prosecutors had sought indictments against all six lawmakers or what charge or charges prosecutors attempted to bring.
Grand jury rejections are extraordinarily unusual, but have happened repeatedly in recent months in Washington as citizens who have heard the government’s evidence have come away underwhelmed in a number of cases. Prosecutors could try again to secure an indictment.
Attention on the lawmakers’ video escalated a couple of day after they initially posted it when Trump began his social media attacks in November.
“This is really bad, and Dangerous to our Country,” he wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. “Their words cannot be allowed to stand. SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP???”
He also shared posts from supporters calling for retribution against the Democrats, including one that said “HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD !!” and another calling them domestic terrorists.
Houlahan said she was “profoundly disappointed” in her GOP colleagues for not defending the Democrats.
Trump told Fox News Radio that he was “not threatening death, but I think they’re in serious trouble,” adding that “in the old days it was death.”
Houlahan and Deluzio reported bomb threats at their district offices after Trump went on offense.
Slotkin, a former CIA analyst who represents Michigan, said late Tuesday that she hopes the grand jury’s decision ends the Justice Department’s probe.
Kelly, the only lawmaker who served long enough to officially retire and therefore falls under The Pentagon’s jurisdiction, is in a another fight with Trump’s administration over the video.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has censured Kelly for participating in the video and is trying to retroactively demote him from his retired rank of captain.
In response, Kelly is suing Hegseth to block those proceedings, calling them an unconstitutional act of retribution. During a hearing last week, the judge appeared to be skeptical of key arguments that a government attorney made in defense of Kelly’s Jan. 5 censure by Hegseth.
This article contains reporting from The Associated Press