Democrats on the Senate floor Wednesday denounced the Justice Department’s attempt to bring charges tied to a 90-second video in which six Democratic lawmakers urged U.S. military members to resist “illegal orders,” after a Washington grand jury declined to indict them. The lawmakers framed the decision as a high-stakes test of the Senate’s role and of the rule of law, and they warned that legal threats against lawmakers over speech they say is grounded in military law could have lasting consequences for Congress.
Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said the administration’s efforts went beyond what a grand jury rejected, arguing the Justice Department tried to “incarcerate” senators and warning that the Senate’s future could hinge on whether Republicans respond. Schatz was among multiple Democrats who spoke a day after the grand jury decision, which covered six Democratic lawmakers that included Sens. Elissa Slotkin and Mark Kelly.
Democrats also pressed their Republican counterparts to address the broader constitutional stakes, with Sen. Chris Murphy calling it a “test for the Senate” that “could break this institution permanently.” The senators’ comments came after Slotkin and Kelly publicly praised the grand jury’s decision, with Slotkin saying that “if things had gone a different way, we’d be preparing for arrest,” and adding that the episode was resolved by “anonymous Americans” who upheld the rule of law.
The lawmakers’ statements tied the episode to a larger debate inside Washington over how prosecutors handle potential cases involving sitting members of Congress. Democrats said the failed indictments represented a setback for the Justice Department amid mounting scrutiny from Democrats and some Republicans over investigations seen as aligned with President Donald Trump’s political grievances, and they said the episode raised “stark First Amendment questions” about the prosecution of lawmakers for their speech.
Sen. Mark Kelly said the situation was “not a good news story,” describing it as an effort by Trump and allies to “break our system in order to silence anyone who lawfully speaks out against them.” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer similarly argued that if Trump could “even attempt to jail senators over speech he dislikes,” then the First Amendment would no longer function as a basic right in practice.
On the Republican side, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the Justice Department’s response “wouldn’t have been my response to that,” and he said the indictment had not survived grand jury scrutiny. Thune said the indictment “didn’t withstand the scrutiny of a grand jury” and “was clear it was not going anywhere,” even as he characterized the party’s focus on where the process stands now.
Two Republicans, Sens. Thom Tillis and Lisa Murkowski, broke from what the article described as muted reaction in their party by voicing sharper criticism. Tillis said the episode involved “political lawfare” that “is not normal, not acceptable, and needs to stop,” and Murkowski called it “a very disturbing direction” involving an attempt to make sitting lawmakers criminals after they “effectively pointed out what the Uniform Military Code of Justice says.”
Kelly and Slotkin also said during a joint press conference that they had not been told what charges prosecutors sought and that it was unclear whether prosecutors planned to continue pursuing the case. The senators said they sent a letter to the Justice Department asking prosecutors to confirm the investigation is closed.
The video controversy has unfolded for months, according to the report. It said Trump reacted angrily, labeling it “seditious” and posting that the offense was “punishable by death” on social media. It also said all six Democratic lawmakers who appeared in the 90-second video came from U.S. military or intelligence backgrounds and said the video’s purpose was to affirm existing law after outreach from military members.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, took a different stance from most Republicans in the Senate. He told MSNow late Wednesday that the lawmakers “probably should be indicted,” adding that blocking law enforcement and interfering with sensitive operations is a “very serious thing” that “probably is a crime.”