Democratic lawmakers who appeared in a video urging members of the military to resist “illegal orders” confirmed Wednesday that they are under investigation from the Trump administration, a remarkable step by the Justice Department that comes after the president accused the lawmakers of sedition for their words.
The four House members and two senators all previously served in the military or at intelligence agencies. The FBI contacted them for interviews late last year, after their 90-second video was released, and now say they have been contacted by the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Columbia, a significant escalation in the investigation.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, a former CIA analyst, first revealed the outreach from prosecutors in an interview with The New York Times. On Wednesday, she posted a video on her X account saying the office of U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, the chief federal prosecutor in the nation’s capital, reached out last week asking to interview her.
“This is the president’s playbook. Truth doesn’t matter. Facts don’t matter. And anyone who disagrees with him becomes an enemy,” Slotkin said. “And he then weaponizes the federal government against them. It’s legal intimidation and physical intimidation meant to get you to shut up.”
Pirro’s office said it would neither confirm nor deny whether an investigation is taking place.
Democrats stand their ground
Democratic Reps. Jason Crow of Colorado, Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania and Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire also confirmed Wednesday that they have been contacted by Pirro's office.
“They would like to sit down with us,” Houlahan told reporters. "And to my knowledge, each one of us have received the same email and outreach.”
The House members remained defiant, with Crow saying the Trump administration "picked the wrong people.”
The lawmakers attracted President Donald Trump's wrath with a video that he and his aides have labeled as “seditious” — an offense Trump said on his social media account was “punishable by death.”
It is not clear what laws could have been violated in the video message. In it, the lawmakers tell troops to follow established military protocols by not following commands that violate the law. They said the administration “is pitting our uniformed military against American citizens” and they called for service members to “stand up for our laws.”
“At this point in time, I’m still sort of wrestling with the fact that the president of the United States has asked for my execution for asking people to follow the law," Houlahan said. “So I’m still kind of in that processing stage in that I am enormously concerned at what this says.”
Pentagon vs. Mark Kelly
The Pentagon swiftly went after Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, a former Navy pilot who represents Arizona, for his participation in the video.
In November, the Pentagon opened an investigation into him, citing a federal law that allows retired service members to be recalled to active duty on orders of the defense secretary for possible court-martial or other punishment. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has censured Kelly for participating. Hegseth is attempting to retroactively demote Kelly from his retired rank of captain.
The senator is suing Hegseth to block those proceedings, calling them an unconstitutional act of retribution.
“The First Amendment forbids the government and its officials from punishing disfavored expression or retaliating against protected speech,” his lawsuit says.
