Democrats targeted over ‘illegal orders’ video attend Trump State of the Union

Published February 24, 2026 9:37pm ET



The six congressional Democrats scrutinized by the Justice Department for a video encouraging service members to defy “illegal orders” from President Donald Trump attended the State of the Union speech on Tuesday night.

Four of the Democrats, each of them House members, posed for a photo in the well of the chamber before Trump arrived, framing their presence as an act of defiance after a federal prosecutor unsuccessfully pursued charges against them over the video.

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