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U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, pictured in a Feb. 11 file photo, might in the clear of a potential Justice Department investigation of him for alleged sedition. (Heather Diehl / Getty Images)

Alert: Massive Development Reported in DOJ's Sedition Case Against Mark Kelly, Others - Bad News for Trump Admin

 By C. Douglas Golden  February 24, 2026 at 6:34am

The office of Washington, D.C., U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro has decided against pursuing a criminal case against Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona, Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, and other members of the so-called “Seditious Six.”

NBC News reported the development on Monday, citing unnamed sources. It comes 10 days after a grand jury in the nation’s capital declined to indict in the case.

Pirro’s office would have to make a second attempt to win a grand jury indictment to proceed with the case, and, if NBC’s report is true, has evidently declined to do so.

While a federal prosecutor could bring a case in a different jurisdiction, NBC reported that “there have been no public indications that will happen.”

In addition to Kelly and Slotkin, four other Democrats — Reps. Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire, Jason Crow of Colorado and Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania — were involved in the scandal.

The six appeared in a video released in November that called upon service members to disobey direct orders under the vague claim that they might be illegal.

The video, called “Don’t Give Up the Ship,” generated over 18.4 million views. It also provided plenty of airtime to the two Democratic senators who were the most prominent lawmakers in the video — in particular Kelly, who’s all but certain to at least explore a run for the presidency in 2028:

Kelly effectively admitted, in a rambling NBC News interview, that he meant this video to serve — as one pundit noted — as effectively a warning that Democrats would decide what acts were illegal and what weren’t once they had the levers of power.

“It’s a tremendous amount of burden on officers in the military. But that is their responsibility. And they can figure it out. You know, a reasonable person can tell something that is legal and something that is illegal,” Kelly said.

He was asked specifically about military attacks against narco-terrorist boats.

“I think this administration has tied themselves in knots, the explanations that we have received on how this is all legal. And I was saying weeks ago, my concern is with the service members, that they’re going to — we’re going to put these individuals in a really, really tough decision — tough place,” he continued.

“And, you know, they may find out, you know, down the road, that they did something that is illegal. It is not fair to them. That’s why we need presidents and secretaries of defense who understand the Constitution, who understand the rule of law, and have more respect for the Constitution, and the country and service members, than the whims of a president.”

War Secretary Pete Hegseth had threatened to recall Navy veteran Kelly to the service to face court martial for sedition. However, a federal judge ruled that Hegseth could not do so.

“This Court has all it needs to conclude that Defendants have trampled on Senator Kelly’s First Amendment freedoms and threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees,” wrote U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, a George W. Bush nominee, in a Feb. 12 decision, according to Politico.

Pirro’s office faced a similar setback the same week as Leon’s decision with the grand jury declining to indict, leading to Slatkin’s lawyer pressuring Pirro to drop the case.

“Members of the military have a duty not to follow unlawful orders, and reminding them of that duty is no crime. The only responsible course is to respect the grand jury’s decision and immediately close the investigation of Senator Slotkin,” wrote Slatkin’s lawyer Preet Bharara in a letter to the Department of Justice, Just the News reported.

Assuming the NBC report is true, it doesn’t make for good news in the Trump administration.

President Donald Trump has branded the Democratic lawmakers’ video “SEDITION AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL.”

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