Jeanine Pirro's office shelves pursuit of Democrats over social video, sources say
#Jeanine Pirro#Democratic lawmakers#Federal grand jury#Social media video#Justice Department#Free speech#Military orders#Political prosecution
📌 Key Takeaways
Federal grand jury unanimously rejected attempt to indict six Democratic lawmakers
Lawmakers had military/intelligence backgrounds and encouraged following lawful orders only
Pirro's office decided to stop pursuing the case after the grand jury rejection
Legal experts criticized the attempt as a political attack on free speech
The case raised concerns about eroding independence of Justice Department from White House
📖 Full Retelling
Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, has decided to stop pursuing a case against six Democratic lawmakers who appeared in a social media video urging military and intelligence community members not to obey unlawful orders, three people familiar with the matter told NBC News in Washington, D.C., on February 23, 2026, after a federal grand jury unanimously rejected the attempt to indict the lawmakers, finding no evidence of criminal activity. The targeted lawmakers—Sens. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Mark Kelly of Arizona, and Reps. Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire, Jason Crow of Colorado, and Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania—all have military or intelligence backgrounds and had encouraged service members to follow only lawful orders, which is consistent with the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Despite the grand jury's clear rejection, Pirro's initial attempt to prosecute the lawmakers drew widespread criticism from legal experts and Democrats who characterized it as an unprecedented political attack on protected free speech and a concerning sign that traditional guardrails between the Justice Department and the White House have eroded under the current administration. The case gained additional attention when President Donald Trump publicly labeled the lawmakers as traitors who committed 'SEDITION AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL' and suggested their behavior might be punishable by death, though no evidence supporting such serious allegations was presented to the grand jury.
🏷️ Themes
Justice Department independence, Free speech protections, Political prosecutions, Military law
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a very few countries) or a secretary of justice. In som...
American television host, author and attorney (born 1951)
Jeanine Ferris Pirro (born June 2, 1951) is an American television host, lawyer, and author who is serving as the United States attorney for the District of Columbia since May 2025. Pirro is a former judge, prosecutor, and politician in the state of New York.
Pirro was elected as a judge of the West...
Groups determining whether to bring criminal charges
Grand juries in the United States are groups of citizens empowered by United States federal or state law to conduct legal proceedings, chiefly investigating potential criminal conduct and determining whether criminal charges should be brought.
Like the jury system as a whole, grand juries originated...
Jeanine Pirro's office shelves pursuit of Democrats over social video, sources say A federal grand jury in D.C. unanimously rejected the attempt to indict six lawmakers who told military and intelligence community members on social media not to obey unlawful orders. President Donald Trump looks on as Jeanine Pirro, then the interim U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., speaks at her swearing-in ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House in May. Andrew Harnik / Getty Images file Share Add NBC News to Google Feb. 23, 2026, 6:25 PM EST By Ryan J. Reilly Listen to this article with a free account 00:00 00:00 Jeanine Pirro's office has decided to stop pursuing the case against six Democratic lawmakers who urged members of the military and intelligence communities in a social media video not to comply with unlawful orders, three people familiar with the matter told NBC News. Roughly two weeks ago, as first reported by NBC News , a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., unanimously rejected an attempt by Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, to indict lawmakers over the video, illustrating that grand jurors didn’t think the government had passed even the low legal threshold of probable cause required to bring an indictment. While a potential case against the six lawmakers is now considered dead in Washington, that decision wouldn’t necessarily bar a federal prosecutor from trying to bring a case in a different federal court district, though there have been no public indications that will happen. Legal experts and Democrats have criticized the unprecedented attempt to use the immense powers of the Justice Department to punish six members of Congress as a purely political attack on protected free speech and a sign that the guardrails that existed during the first Trump administration have been eroding. Pirro’s office had tried to charge six Democratic lawmakers, all of whom have military or intelligence backgrounds: Sens. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Ma...
