Who are the 6 Democrats threatened by Trump over controversial video?
The Trump administration has opened investigations into six congressional Democrats who released a video telling members of the U.S. military they should not follow illegal orders.
The Pentagon and the FBI are conducting the investigations. The Democrats in the video all are former members of the military or the intelligence community.
The controversial video echoes concern by Democrats over the legality of President Donald Trump's deployment of the National Guard to U.S. cities and the military's strikes on boats suspected of trafficking drugs in the Caribbean.
The Democrats in the video do not address specific incidents but say, “This administration is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens.”
On Truth Social, Trump called actions by the Democrats “seditious” and said they could be “punishable by DEATH!” Seditious conspiracy is punishable by a fine and up to 20 years in prison but not death.
Who are the six Democrats?
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The 1 minute 21-second video was released Nov. 18 by Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Michigan, a former CIA analyst, and includes Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Arizona, a former Navy captain, combat pilot in Iraq and space shuttle astronaut.
What did the video say?
Who is conducting the investigations?
Though all six Democrats, two senators and four representatives, are being investigated by the FBI, the Pentagon is focusing on Kelly.
Trump’s Department of War, formally the Department of Defense, announced Nov. 24 that it was investigating Kelly for “serious allegations of misconduct,” USA TODAY reported.
The Pentagon said Kelly could face action including “recall to active duty for court-martial proceedings or administrative measures." Kelly retired from the Navy and NASA in 2011 and replaced John McCain as Arizona senator on Dec. 2, 2020, in a special election. He was reelected in 2022.
He's the husband of former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot at an event and sustained a severe brain injury in Tucson on Jan. 8, 2011.
In a memo made public Nov. 25, War Secretary Pete Hegseth asked the secretary of the Navy to review “potentially unlawful comments” made in the video, according to Reuters. Hegseth wants a brief on the review by Dec. 10.
Experts told USA TODAY the case against Kelly is unlikely to reach court.
Apart from the Pentagon, the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division is seeking interviews with the six Democrats for undisclosed reasons. Agents contacted House and Senate sergeants at arms on Nov. 25 to arrange them.
Slotkin said the FBI is “opening what appears to be an inquiry against the six of us.”
Can troops refuse to obey illegal orders?
All members of the military take an oath of enlistment to support and defend the U.S. Constitution.
They obey orders according to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the set of laws enacted in 1950 for all members of the U.S. armed forces. It requires personnel to obey any lawful order or regulation.
An accompanying set of rules, the Manual for Courts-Martial, says the mandate for obeying orders “does not apply to a patently illegal order, such as one that directs the commission of a crime.”
The War Department says military retirees are subject to laws that prohibit actions "intended to interfere with the loyalty, morale, or good order and discipline of the armed forces."
CONTRIBUTING Rebecca Morin, Joey Garrison, Natalie Neysa Alund and Cybele Mayes-Osterman
SOURCE USA TODAY Network reporting and research; Reuters