Democratic lawmakers said Tuesday that they were being targeted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation after appearing in a video that urged troops to disobey illegal orders.
Reps. Jason Crow, Chris Deluzio, Maggie Goodlander and Chrissy Houlahan said in a joint statement that the FBI reached out to the House and Senate sergeants-at-arms on Monday to request interviews. Sens. Mark Kelly and Elissa Slotkin, who also appeared in the video, said they also appeared to be part of an FBI probe.
“President Trump is using the FBI as a tool to intimidate and harass Members of Congress,” Crow, Deluzio, Goodlander and Houlahan said in a joint statement.
“No amount of intimidation or harassment will ever stop us from doing our jobs and honoring our Constitution,” the House members’ statement continued. “We swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. That oath lasts a lifetime, and we intend to keep it. We will not be bullied. We will never give up the ship.”
White House directed questions to the FBI, which declined to comment. The office of Senate Majority Leader John Thune declined to comment as well. House Speaker Mike Johnson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Six Democratic lawmakers released a video on Nov. 18 telling members of the armed services that they did not need to comply with illegal orders, provoking the ire of President Donald Trump and top officials in his administration.
Trump suggested the lawmakers could be guilty of “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”
The Pentagon on Monday announced it would investigate Kelly, which it said “may include recall to active duty for court-martial proceedings or administrative measures.”
Kelly’s office confirmed to NOTUS on Tuesday that it was the recipient of the sergeant-at-arms’ request for an interview with the FBI.
“Senator Kelly won’t be silenced by President Trump and Secretary Hegseth’s attempt to intimidate him and keep him from doing his job as a U.S. Senator,” his office said in a statement.
Slotkin posted Tuesday on social media that the FBI Counterterrorism Division “appeared to open an investigation into me in response to a video he did not like.”
“The President directing the FBI to target us is exactly why we made this video in the first place,” Slotkin posted to X. “He believes in weaponizing the federal government against his perceived enemies and does not believe laws apply to him or his Cabinet. He uses legal harassment as an intimidation tactic to scare people out of speaking up.”
“This isn’t just about a video,” she continued. “This is not the America I know, and I’m not going to let this next step from the FBI stop me from speaking up for my country and our Constitution.”
The speed and aggressiveness of the FBI’s apparent inquiry surprised several former high-ranking bureau officials, who noted that subject interviews normally occur in later stages of a full-blown investigation.
One former FBI employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, explained that special agents normally begin with a cursory assessment before moving on to a preliminary investigation that would allow for limited evidence collection — like searching phone call records. Only after agents find “probable cause” of a crime would they receive a supervisor’s approval to launch an actual investigation, which would permit requesting judicially approved search warrants, spying on private communications and eventually interviews with the person being looked at.
If the FBI was following internal policy, former agents said, investigators would have already sought these senators’ and representatives’ text messages and emails to ascertain whether their comments in the video were actually driven by an intention to get soldiers to disobey lawful orders.
“My guess is they skipped over the investigation. It seems unlikely they had sufficient time to meticulously, dispassionately and objectively pursue a preliminary investigation before going to interview the targets,” this person said. “I don’t know what articulable facts they could possibly have to open an investigation. Telling people to not follow illegal orders does not indicate criminal activity.”
Don’t miss the stories shaping Washington.
Sign in
Log into your free account with your email. Don’t have one?
Check your email for a one-time code.
We sent a 4-digit code to . Enter the pin to confirm your account.
New code will be available in 1:00
Let’s try this again.
We encountered an error with the passcode sent to . Please reenter your email.