US government drops case against Democrats in 'illegal orders' video

Federal prosecutors in Washington have dropped their case against six Democratic lawmakers who released a video urging military servicemembers to refuse illegal orders.

The decision - confirmed by the BBC's media partner CBS News - follows US Attorney Jeanine Pirro's office failing to secure a grand jury indictment against the six military and intelligence veterans.

The justice department could still pursue the case in a different district, but there were no signs on Tuesday that it intended to do so. Pirro's office had no comment.

After the Democrats released the video, President Donald Trump called the lawmakers "traitors" and suggested the video was an offence "punishable by death".

He later said he was not threatening death for the six.

Pirro's office then moved to investigate the lawmakers while the Pentagon began working to demote Senator Mark Kelly, a former Navy captain and astronaut, in order to cut his retirement pay and benefits.

Kelly had previously called Pirro's case "an outrageous abuse of power by Donald Trump and his lackies" and has also sued the defence department, which was temporarily blocked by a judge from reducing his rank in early February.

The justice department had sought to charge him, along with Senator Elissa Slotkin and Representatives Jason Crow, Maddie Goodlander, Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan, under a law carrying a maximum 10-year prison sentence for those who encourage "insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty by any member of the military".

But a grand jury in early February would not sign off on the indictment, and Slotkin's attorneys warned Pirro's office that if the case continued she would argue it was a "vindictive and selective prosecution".

Grand juries decide if there is enough evidence to bring a case to trial.

The lawmakers and their supporters had described Trump's reaction to the video as an attack on free speech and an effort to punish perceived political enemies.

They also said that they were, in the video, reminding servicemembers of the rules they must follow in the military. Under the Uniform Military Code of Justice, servicemembers have a duty to refuse to obey orders that violate US or international laws.

They released the 90-second video in November as many in the country questioned American military strikes on alleged narco-trafficking boats off the coast of South America, which have resulted in more than 130 deaths since September.