WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats took to the Senate floor Wednesday to deliver impassioned speeches denouncing the Justice Department’s attempt to indict a group of lawmakers who last year urged U.S. military members to resist “illegal orders,” framing the episode as a dire test for their chamber and the rule of law.
“The fact that they failed to incarcerate a United States senator should not obviate our outrage. They tried to incarcerate two of us,” said Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii. “I am not entirely sure the United States Senate can survive this if we do not have Republicans standing up.”
Schatz was among a string of Democratic senators who spoke a day after a Washington grand jury declined to indict six Democratic lawmakers, including Sens. Elissa Slotkin and Mark Kelly, over a 90-second video that drew fierce backlash from President Donald Trump.
While Democrats blasted the Trump administration, they also challenged their Republican colleagues to speak out. Sen. Chris Murphy called it a “test for the Senate” that “could break this institution permanently.”
Earlier Wednesday, Slotkin and Kelly praised the grand jury’s decision, with Slotkin saying that “if things had gone a different way, we’d be preparing for arrest.”
“A group of anonymous Americans upheld the rule of law and determined that this case should not proceed,” she said.
The failed indictments mark a high-profile setback for the Justice Department, which has faced mounting scrutiny from Democrats and some Republicans over investigations seen as aligned with Trump’s political grievances. The episode has raised stark First Amendment questions about the potential prosecution of sitting members of Congress for their speech.
“This is not a good news story,” Kelly said. “This is a story about how Donald Trump and his cronies are trying to break our system in order to silence anyone who lawfully speaks out against them.”
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer similarly framed the attempt as a broader free speech threat, saying that if Trump “believes that he can even attempt to jail senators over speech he dislikes, then the First Amendment is no longer a basic right.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said the Justice Department's response “wouldn’t have been my response to that, but we are where we are.”
“The indictment didn’t withstand the scrutiny of a grand jury. It was clear it was not going anywhere,” Thune said.
Two Republicans, Sens. Thom Tillis and Lisa Murkowski, stood out from the otherwise muted reaction in their party. Tillis said that “political lawfare is not normal, not acceptable, and needs to stop,” while Murkowski called it “a very disturbing direction that the administration has taken in basically trying to make criminals out of sitting lawmakers who effectively pointed out what the Uniform Military Code of Justice says.”
Kelly and Slotkin said during a joint press conference that they have not been told what charges prosecutors sought, and it's unclear whether prosecutors plan to keep pursuing the case. The senators sent a letter on Wednesday asking the Justice Department to confirm the investigation is now closed, they said.
The two senators and four House members have been embroiled in fallout from the video for months. Trump reacted angrily to their video, labeling it “seditious” and saying on social media that the offense was “punishable by death.”
All six of the Democratic lawmakers who appeared in the 90-second video served in the military or intelligence communities. They said the video’s purpose was to simply affirm existing law after receiving outreach from members of the military.
On the other side of the Capitol, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana said the video warrants criminal scrutiny. He told MSNow late Wednesday that the lawmakers “probably should be indicted.”
“Anytime you’re obstructing law enforcement and getting in the way of these sensitive operations, it’s a very serious thing, and it probably is a crime. And, yeah, they probably should be indicted,” he said.
Associated Press reporter Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.
Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., and Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., speak during a news conference at Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., speaks during a news conference at Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., and Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., speak during a news conference at Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
MILAN (AP) — A dozen people outside a Milan metro station on Wednesday stared intently at their phones until 8 a.m., when an Instagram post provided a location.
“Run, don’t walk: we’re in the Castello area,” said the post. “Pins are available while supplies last.”
It sent the group sprinting.
Early each morning in Milan, eager collectors have been gathering to await word of the exact spot where they can score highly prized, limited-edition Olympics pins that — if they’re fast enough — are free.
Ilaria Pasqua has gotten up and out early every day since Saturday to snag the coveted pins from YesMilano, the city's promotional agency, and she plans to complete the collection of seven neighborhoods — including Isola and Porta Venezia — and five iconic landmarks, like the Duomo. She teamed up with three collectors she met on the first day, and they have developed a system to be among the first in line.
“I know it can sound like it’s a bit extreme, and (like) it’s a waste of time. But actually, I’ve met these people that I am doing this with, so it’s nice,’’ said Pasqua, an English teacher in Milan. “It’s a way to get to know the city that you live in or are visiting. It’s also social. I’m really enjoying it, to be honest. And you take a little treasure with you home every day, so it’s fun.’’
Each day after receiving her pins, Pasqua says she stuffs them deep in her coat pocket – out of view from latecomers looking for a trade that she doesn’t want to make.
Pin collecting is an essential part of the Olympic subculture, with people traveling far and wide to the Games just to add to what is often a very substantial array of enameled pins at home.
For those with little patience for treasure hunting who want to get right down to business, Milan is the first Olympics to offer an official pin trading center since Pyeongchang in 2018.
Sponsored by Warner Brothers, it features an area where children can interact with costumed Looney Tunes characters, creating the next generation of pin-traders, along with a dozen tables where die-hard traders from as far away as the United States and Japan up boards with their wares.
Eddie Schneider of Lindenhurst, NY who has been trading pins since the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles. Among his 25,000 pins is one from the 1948 London Games, which his mother attended.
“I consider it like going to a World’s Fair every two years,” he said at the center. “You get to go different places and experience different cultures and have fun.”
Elite collectors know the intrinsic value of each category, including retail, delegation, team, sponsor, media and national Olympic committees. Japanese media pins are among the most coveted by die-hard collectors, for their rarity, while in Cortina athletes were keen to get an Iran pin and in Paris Snoop Dogg's pins were the buzziest.
Official pins incorporate the Milan Cortina 26 logo and the Olympic rings, which are produced exclusively by the Los Angeles-based pin maker Honav, the rights-holder for the Milan Cortina Winter Games and the upcoming 2028 Los Angeles Summer Games.
Honav's owner Mario Simonson said his company designed hundreds of pins and produced millions for these Games — each bearing the Honav backstamp for authenticity. The International Olympic Committee collects royalties for the use of the logo and rings.
Pins without those official features have “zero value’’ for serious traders, he said.
London resident Josh Waller, 21, collected his first pin at the 2012 Summer Games, when he was 8 years old. He now has over 10,000 stashed in his room, and brought 1,500 to Milan to trade. "Pindemonium,'' he calls it.
His collection of London Olympic pins, including vintage issues, is award-winning. He belongs to a group of online traders that exploded after the Tokyo Games, when the pandemic kept spectators at home, and he has developed software to authenticate high-value pins.
Waller is a volunteer at the pin trading center, where he said thousands of people, including athletes and families with children, lined up over the weekend to buy and trade.
“The whole pin trading community is very tight," Mark Gabriel, a Warner Brothers consumer products' executive, told the AP. He expects trading “to reach a fever pitch” on the Games’ second weekend.
Meantime, pin enthusiasts are criss-crossing the city in the early morning, in pursuit of the full YesMilano set.
They have been successful beyond the organizers’ imaginings. While city pins have long been part of the Games, YesMilano’s campaign goes further by promoting under-visited parts of the city and encouraging people to visit landmarks.
On the first day, more than 1,000 people showed up in the North of Piazza Loreto (NOLO) neighborhood. The second day at the architectural landmark, Torre Velasca, that number was 600 – as word circulated of the daily 250 limit.
Latecomers receive stickers as consolation prizes, but can purchase the YesMilano pins at official souvenir vendors for 20 euros ($24) — up from an initial 12 euros due to demand.
Beatrice Biondi got up at 6:30 a.m. to travel into Milan from Varese, an hour away, to be first in line at the Sforza Castle. It was her first shot at collecting Olympic memorabilia, after wrapping up university exams the day before.
"We had to run a bit, but we made it so we are very happy,’’ she said.
After collecting her Sforza Castle pin, she planned to add the little focaccia bag charm from the Esselunga supermarket chain, and a Coca-Cola pin from the Olympic sponsor.
‘’All the pins I can find, I will take,'' Biondi said.
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Beatrice Biondi and Pietro Sartena queue up at Milan's Sforza Castle to pick up the coveted pin of the day featuring the landmark by the YesMilano city promoters, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mustakim Hasnath)
Pin collector Eddie Schneider of Lindenhurst, NY organizes his trading stock at the official Olympic pin center, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mustakim Hasnath)
Isabella Botero, a Masters student studying in Milan, displays the YesMilano pins featuring city neighborhoods and landmarks that she has collected in recent days, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mustakim Hasnath)
Italian luge athlete Leon Felderer poses for a photo with Italy's national pin, at the Cortina Olympic Village, during the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Thursday Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Jennifer McDermott)
Iran's coach for Alpine women's skiing, Mitra Kalhor displays Iran's national pin for the 2026 Winter Olympics at the Cortina Olympic Village, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Thursday Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Jennifer McDermott)
Patrick Shannon, a coach for the Chinese skeleton team, displays China's three pin designs at the Milan Cortina Olympic Village, during the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Thursday Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Jennifer McDermott)
A woman shows a pin she is looking to trade at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
