Democratic lawmakers who appeared in a video message urging service members to resist “illegal orders” say they have been contacted by prosecutors as the Justice Department weighs potential action tied to the recording. The lawmakers confirmed the outreach in recent days, describing it as an escalating step after President Donald Trump accused them of sedition for the video’s content.
In Washington, the Democratic officials said FBI contact for interviews began after the roughly 90-second video was released, with the new outreach coming from the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Columbia. An AP report said Pirro’s office would not confirm or deny whether an investigation is under way.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a former CIA analyst, said she learned last week that prosecutors wanted to interview her. Slotkin posted on her X account that the office of U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro reached out and asked to interview her. She described the move as intimidation tied to the president’s playbook, saying, “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. She added, “And he then weaponizes the federal government against them. It’s legal intimidation and physical intimidation meant to get you to shut up.”
Other lawmakers also confirmed similar outreach. Democratic Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, who previously served in the Air Force, told reporters that the U.S. attorney’s office “would like to sit down with us” and that, to her knowledge, each lawmaker had received the same email and outreach. Democratic Rep. Jason Crow said the Trump administration “picked the wrong people,” while Democratic Rep. Maggie Goodlander, who also has military and intelligence ties, said in a statement that the “threats will not deter, distract, intimidate, or silence me.”
Trump and his aides had labeled the video “seditious.” In the video, the lawmakers told troops to follow established military protocols by not carrying out commands they believe violate the law. The video also asserted that the administration “is pitting our uniformed military against American citizens” and called for service members to “stand up for our laws.” The AP report said it was not clear what specific laws could have been violated, despite Trump’s comments on his social media account.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Wednesday that the participating lawmakers “did not violate the law” and that Democrats “stand firmly behind them,” reflecting the party’s position that the message to troops was grounded in following legal procedures rather than encouraging disobedience.
While the Justice Department outreach drew political attention, the Pentagon also moved against one of the video participants. The AP report said the Pentagon opened an investigation into Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona after his involvement in the video. It cited 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 and is attempting to retroactively demote him from his retired rank of captain, according to the report.
Kelly has sued Hegseth to block those proceedings, saying they are an unconstitutional act of retribution. In the lawsuit, Kelly argued that the First Amendment forbids the government and its officials from punishing disfavored expression or retaliating against protected speech, according to the AP report.