WASHINGTON | A grand jury in Washington refused Tuesday to indict Aurora Democratic Congressperson Jason Crow and other Democratic lawmakers in connection with a video in which they urged U.S. military members to resist “illegal orders,” according to a person familiar with the matter.
“Donald Trump’s DOJ just tried — and failed — to indict me in front of a grand jury,” Crow said in a statement Tuesday night. “Americans should be furious that Trump and his goons tried to weaponize our justice system again against his political opponents. His attempts to intimidate and silence us will always fail.”
The Justice Department opened an investigation into the video featuring Crow, Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly and Elissa Slotkin and three other Democratic lawmakers urging U.S. service members to follow established military protocols and reject orders they believe to be unlawful. All the lawmakers previously served in the military or at intelligence agencies.
Grand jurors in Washington declined to sign off on charges in the latest of a series of rebukes of prosecutors by citizens in the nation’s capital, according to the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter. 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.
Spokespeople for the U.S. attorney’s office and the Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
The FBI in November began contacting the lawmakers to schedule interviews, outreach that came against the backdrop of broader Justice Department efforts to punish political opponents of the president. President Donald Trump and his aides labeled the lawmakers’ video as “seditious” — and Trump said on his social media account that the offense was “punishable by death.”
Besides Crow, Slotkin and Kelly, the other Democrats who appeared in the video include Reps. Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire and Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania.
Slotkin, a former CIA analyst who represents Michigan, said late Tuesday that she hopes this ends the Justice Department’s probe.
“Tonight we can score one for the Constitution, our freedom of speech, and the rule of law,” Slotkin said in a statement. “But today wasn’t just an embarrassing day for the Administration. It was another sad day for our country,” she said.
Kelly, a former Navy pilot who represents Arizona, called the attempt to bring charges an “outrageous abuse of power by Donald Trump and his lackies.”
“Donald Trump wants every American to be too scared to speak out against him,” Kelly said in a post on X. “The most patriotic thing any of us can do is not back down.”
In November, the Pentagon opened an investigation into Kelly, citing a federal law that allows retired service members to be recalled to active duty on orders of the defense secretary for possible court-martial or other punishment. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has censured Kelly for participating in the video and is trying to retroactively demote Kelly from his retired rank of captain.
The senator 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 is both ridiculous, for the lame attempt to indict public officeholders for doing nothing illegal or wrong, and terrifying, for the weaponization of the criminal justice system because Trump wants to be a tyrant.
It is heartening that the grand jurors rejected this obviously petty and unethical maneuver by the White House designed to destroy two congresspersons because Trump’s feelings are hurt.
Benedict Arnold was a decorated veteran too (just sayin’). Representative Crow invited insurrection against military officers without even giving a reason. He is no better than that sleazy general who, during Trump’s first term, told the Chinese that he would give them advance warning before Trump took any military action against them. Mr. Crow is an embarrassment to his former unit and just another sleazy politician.
You like to lie. You must be a trump supporter. Representative Crow did give a lawful reason. If you ever served in the military, you would know this. The UCMJ contains the duty for servicemembers to refuse to follow unlawful orders. The only sleazy persons in all this are trump and his despicable cult followers – that’s you, kirk.
Jason Crow is a former Army Ranger who completed three tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan (honorably, unlike your hero Benedict Arnold). He has received the Bronze Star. He has proven himself as a member of Congress. He served on the Colorado Board of Veterans Affairs. I have yet to hear anyone disparage his service record.
What have you done? Aside from attempting to impugn the record of a decorated veteran, of course.
I gather you prefer the convicted felon that sits in the Oval Office and has never rendered service to anyone unless there was a buck in it for him somewhere.
Your attempt at smearing Mr. Crow is pathetic and indicative of political hackery. Trump has never served anyone but himself.
Mr. Ryan – No one is impugning what Mr. Crow once did for our country, I am impugning what he has become. When asked, none of the “insurrectionist 6” could identify any orders given they thought were illegal. Therefore, the only purpose of such a statement was sleazy politics meant to plant doubt in servicemen’s minds. Mr. Crow’s past does not excuse what he has become – a disgraceful pawn of the political left.
Your statements are little more than pure sophistry.
Have you served in the same manner as Congressman Crow did? Do you know what he knows from personal experience as a decorated veteran?
Your resort to cute phraseology (“the insurrectionist 6”) demeans not only Congressman Crow but the state of the law. You have a problem with Congressman Crow, this much is obvious. But the problem is yours, not his.
You continue to use Mr. Crow’s past to justify his current behavior. He has put his fellow citizens in danger by protecting criminal illegals from deportation. He has put his “brothers in arms” in danger by suggesting their orders may be illegal without identifying any such orders. Representitive Crow’s behavior is an aberration relative to other’s who served our country with honor. He aspires to become a career politician within the Democrat Party and has placed others in danger only to advance his personal career. This is not honorable.
Son, I don’t think you know what “honor” is.
In fact, I’m sure you don’t.