Source: Politics<\/p>\n
The six Democrats who urged military servicemembers in a video not to comply with illegal orders notched a significant legal win when federal prosecutors failed to criminally indict them<\/a>. Now they\u2019re looking to gain political momentum and build their campaign war chests.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are not done,\u201d said Pennsylvania Rep. Chrissy Houlahan at a press conference alongside fellow House members.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will continue to push back. The tide is turning and accountability is coming,\u201d Colorado Rep. Jason Crow said in a video posted to social media<\/a>.<\/p>\n Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin said in a fundraising email: \u201cThey tried to indict me.\u201d<\/p>\n The group of Democrats, including two senators and four House members with backgrounds in national security, came out swinging against President Donald Trump and the Justice Department Wednesday for what they said was an abuse of power and a threat against all Americans\u2019 right to freedom of speech. In addition to a flurry of social media posts and two afternoon press conferences, several have been making the cable news rounds and scheduled appearances on high-profile late night TV shows \u2014 signs that they see political opportunity in Trump\u2019s attacks and are hoping to bottle that clout.<\/p>\n “Democrats have limited power at the federal level right now and need to leverage every opportunity to capitalize on Trump’s overreach and lawlessness to raise the necessary funds to ensure we have a balance of power at the end of the midterms,\u201d said Democratic strategist Adrienne Elrod. \u201cIt takes resources to get our message out, hold Trump to account, and win back seats, and I’m glad these members are seizing on this moment and fighting back.\u201d<\/p>\n As Democrats sharpen their attacks against Trump heading into the midterms, his Justice Department\u2019s unprecedented attempt to prosecute the Democratic lawmakers \u2014 most of whom represent crucial battleground states like Michigan, Arizona, and Pennsylvania \u2014 has inadvertently elevated their profiles. And the Trump administration, by failing to secure an indictment after months of public sparring with the Democrats and threats from the president, has bolstered their credibility as bare-knuckle fighters who can take on Trump and win.<\/p>\n In this attention-driven political economy, Trump has given a valuable boost to a group of Democrats that includes some with an eye toward future leadership positions in the party \u2013 including for Slotkin and Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, who are often discussed as potential future presidential candidates.<\/p>\n \u201cTrump has elevated them by his baseless attacks and his attempt to weaponize the judicial system against them that has flopped so hard,\u201d said Democratic strategist Ian Russell. \u201cThat certainly has given them a platform \u2013 an even larger platform \u2013 as leaders who are focused on keeping our country safe, serving those who serve us, and so forth.\u201d<\/p>\n The six members of Congress released a video on social media late last year urging military servicemembers to ignore illegal orders amid questions about the legality of the Trump administration\u2019s strikes on alleged drug boats from Latin America. That quickly drew Trump\u2019s ire and prompted the launch of an investigation into the group that they lambasted as politically motivated.<\/p>\n The Department of Justice\u2019s failure to indict the Democrats gave them a new opportunity to draw attention.<\/p>\n \u201cToday wasn\u2019t just an embarrassing day for the Administration. It was another sad day for our country,\u201d Slotkin posted<\/a> on X Tuesday night, as the first reports circulated that a grand jury had rejected the attempt to indict her and five Democratic colleagues.<\/p>\n Slotkin has become one of the party\u2019s most prominent voices as it seeks to chart a path out of the political wilderness. Seizing on the new political attention \u2014 which can be hard to come by in a Republican-controlled Washington \u2014 she sent a fundraising appeal the next morning, held a press conference, went on TV and sent a barrage of posts on X.<\/p>\n \u201cThe investigations kept coming when we were quiet. So, if it’s going to be bad when you’re quiet, you might as well go on offense and have this conversation publicly,\u201d Slotkin said in an interview on MS Now.<\/p>\n The strategy reflects a broader dynamic for the Democratic Party: Trump\u2019s actions often serve as their best fundraising tool. A POLITICO analysis of ActBlue data<\/a> this week found that many of the party\u2019s largest online fundraising spikes last year came after a Democrat stood up to \u2014 or was attacked by \u2014 Trump.<\/p>\n \u201cTrump elevating them is the kind of thing that makes Democratic donors, strategists, activists, go, \u2018Ah, I like what I see,\u2019\u201d said Russell, the Democratic strategist.<\/p>\n That dynamic has proven especially true for Kelly, who is also in a protracted public battle with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth over the video. Hegseth initiated a review of Kelly\u2019s public comments that could demote the Navy captain\u2019s rank and reduce his retirement pay<\/a>. Kelly has sued to halt the review.<\/p>\n Kelly has emerged as a top Democratic fundraiser<\/a>, the POLITICO analysis found, dominating online fundraising for weeks after the Pentagon announced the investigation even though he\u2019s not up for reelection this year.<\/p>\n Shortly before news broke Tuesday night that a grand jury had declined to charge the Democrats, the Arizona senator blasted out another fundraising appeal that nodded to his legal proceedings. \u201cWhat we need from this team, right now, is the peace of mind that Mark has all the resources he\u2019ll need to stay the course,\u201d said one fundraising email signed by \u201cTeam Kelly\u201d<\/a> on Tuesday.<\/p>\n At least two of the House Democrats investigated by the Justice Department sent similar pleas for cash in recent weeks. Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) \u2013 who serves as one of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee\u2019s recruitment co-chairs \u2013 asked supporters for $10 <\/a>after detailing the federal inquiry opened into the video, and Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.) made clear in his own pitch<\/a> that he would not \u201cbe intimidated by any harassment campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to fundraising appeals and appearances on cable news shows, the House members \u2014 which also includes Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire \u2014 presented a unified front at a Wednesday press conference, casting the effort as political retribution.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was about Donald Trump trying to send a message, a message that if you dare step out of line, if you dare dissent and speak up and push back against his agenda, that you will be crushed,\u201d Crow, the Colorado Democrat, said at the press conference.<\/p>\n Longtime Democratic strategist Jesse Ferguson said the failed indictments \u2014 and broader message of retribution \u2014 gives lawmakers in his party a potent political argument: Democrats were right when they warned that Trump was going to use the justice system for his personal retribution.<\/p>\n \u201cHe proved they’re not the boy who cried wolf,\u201d he said. \u201cThey’re the meteorologist who predicted the hurricane.\u201d<\/p>\n