The Absurd GOP

[Angrboda]

The US attorney’s office in Washington DC, led by the former Fox News commentator Jeanine Pirro, reportedly tried, and failed, to convince a grand jury to indict six Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday over a social media video they recorded to remind service members in the military and intelligence community that they are not required to follow illegal orders.

According to reporting from NBC News and the New York Times, federal prosecutors tried to charge the six lawmakers, all of whom previously served in the military or intelligence agencies, with violating a law that makes it a crime to “to interfere with, impair, or influence the loyalty, morale, or discipline of the military or naval forces of the United States”.

Two of the lawmakers, senators Mark Kelly of Arizona and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, posted statements denouncing the effort to prosecute them for simply reminding active-duty members of the military and intelligence services of their Constitutional obligation to not break the law.

“This is an outrageous abuse of power by Donald Trump and his lackies,” Kelly said. “It wasn’t enough for Pete Hegseth to censure me and threaten to demote me, now it appears they tried to have me charged with a crime — all because of something I said that they didn’t like. That’s not the way things work in America. Donald Trump wants every American to be too scared to speak out against him. The most patriotic thing any of us can do is not back down.”

- The Guardian