Sen. Mark Kelly: Trump’s DOJ Couldn’t Get a Single Grand Jury Vote

The Trump Justice Department's attempt to indict Senator Mark Kelly and five other Democratic lawmakers for releasing a video on unlawful orders failed to secure a single vote from a grand jury. This outcome is statistically highly unusual, as federal grand juries typically succeed in indicting 99.997% of the time, based on 2013 data of 165,000 federal indictments with only five being unsuccessful.

Senator Kelly states, 'From 2013, there were 165,000 federal indictments. There were five that were unsuccessful. That's 99.997% probability of success.' He also notes, 'NBC reported they didn't get any votes to indict us.'

Senator Kelly asserts that the administration's actions, including the attempt to demote him and take away his pension as a retired service member for his speech, have already created a 'chilling effect.' He reports that retired admirals and generals have changed their public statements and actions due to fear of similar repercussions, impacting their willingness to speak out.

Kelly states, 'If they can go after me as a US senator who spent 25 years in the Navy and demote me and take away my pension for something that I've said, they can go after anybody. And I've heard from retired admirals and generals that they have already changed what they say publicly and what they do because of this. It has already chilled the speech of people who have spent their most of their adult lives defending this country.'

Senator Kelly strongly criticizes Speaker Mike Johnson's initial reaction, which supported the indictment effort. Kelly describes Johnson as 'clueless,' suggesting he lacks understanding of the situation and has become merely a 'personal representative' of the president in the House, failing to act as an independent leader of the legislative body.

Kelly states, 'Sam, he doesn't he's clueless. He doesn't even understand. He apparently maybe he hasn't watched the video. He hasn't followed this. He should he should go and educate himself on this issue before he before he speaks out because what he said made no sense.' He later adds, 'He is not he's not functioning as a leader of that body... he is he is just you know there to uh echo what the White House says.'

Kelly emphasizes the critical need for Republican senators to publicly condemn the administration's actions, arguing that their private concerns are insufficient. He warns that the executive branch attempting to imprison legislative members fundamentally undermines the separation of powers and the ability of government to address national problems, setting a dangerous precedent for future administrations.

Kelly states, 'They need to like step up in a way that actually has has an impact and they need to tell the administration that you you are entering some, you know, dangerous waters here and we we could wind up in a constitutional crisis if they throw Alyssa Slackan and I and four House members in prison because of something we said.' He also notes, 'If the executive branch is trying to throw members of the legislative branch in prison. Like that's not good.'