FBI Moves To Question Democrats As Trump ‘Mutiny’ Feud Spirals Into Criminal Probes
The confrontation between the White House and a group of Democratic veterans in Congress shifted from a war of words to a potential criminal inquiry on Tuesday, with lawmakers revealing that the FBI has contacted them to schedule interviews regarding their viral “illegal orders” video.
The bureau’s involvement marks a significant escalation in a standoff that has already seen President Donald Trump accuse the lawmakers of “seditious behavior” which he stated in a social media post is “punishable by DEATH.”
This emerging FBI inquiry is the second investigation launched in the wake of the video. Just a day earlier, the Pentagon announced it is investigating Senator Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) over potential violations of military law connected to the same campaign.
“President Trump is using the FBI as a tool to intimidate and harass Members of Congress,” a group of four Democratic House members said in a statement released Tuesday. “Yesterday, the FBI contacted the House and Senate Sergeants at Arms requesting interviews.”
‘Punishable by Death’
The controversy exploded last week after the lawmakers released a video reminding military personnel of their duty under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) to disobey unlawful orders. The message was framed as a necessary civics refresher amid increased domestic deployments, but the White House viewed it as an attempt to sow insubordination within the ranks.
Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), one of the faces of the campaign, held a tense press conference Tuesday to address the fallout. She confirmed that the FBI’s counterterrorism division had sent a note indicating the opening of what appears to be an inquiry against six lawmakers.
Slotkin linked the federal law enforcement interest directly to the President’s rhetoric.
“He’s repeated that over and over, both in his statements and in memes,” Slotkin said of the President’s treason accusations. “Because of that, we saw an immediate and massive uptick in the number of death threats that we got. I mean, we couldn’t count—it’s got to be past thousands now.”
According to Slotkin, the threats became so severe that Capitol Police and the Sergeant at Arms placed her and others under 24-hour security. “My family has been harassed. It’s been an immediate change to our life,” she said.
The ‘Illegal Orders’ Admission
While the Democrats argue they are merely restating existing law, their narrative faced a significant hurdle on Sunday.
During an appearance on ABC’s This Week, Slotkin was pressed by host Martha Raddatz on whether she had actually seen any illegal orders from the Trump administration to justify the video’s release.
“To my knowledge, I am not aware of things that are illegal,” Slotkin conceded.
Critics, including Senator Lindsey Graham, have seized on that admission. They argue that encouraging troops to question the chain of command without pointing to a specific unlawful directive creates dangerous confusion and undermines military discipline.
Slotkin attempted to pivot during her Tuesday presser, suggesting that the administration is “weaponizing” the federal government to distract from bad economic news and the impending release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
“The President also was looking to distract from a lot of bad news last week,” Slotkin said. “He is attempting to use the FBI to scare us out of continuing to talk… but it just reaffirms why we made this video in the first place.”
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