Rep. Chrissy Houlahan is among Democrats investigated by Trump administration for November video
Houlahan and five other lawmakers urged troops to resist “illegal orders.”
U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D., Chester) is among the group of Democrats being investigated by the Trump administration for appearing in a video that informs service members not to follow “illegal orders.”
On Wednesday, Houlahan, a former Air Force officer, said that federal prosecutors contacted her and six other politicians over the video posted on Nov. 18.
Four representatives and two senators, all of whom served in the military or intelligence agencies, said in the video that the Trump administration is “pitting uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens.”
In response, Trump posted on social media days later that the lawmakers were engaging in “seditious behavior, punishable by death.”
The Democratic lawmakers were contacted late last year by the FBI for interviews. Now, they are being contacted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
“The six of us are being targeted not because we said something untrue, but because we said something President Donald Trump and Secretary Hegseth didn’t want anyone to hear,” Houlahan said Wednesday in a statement. “This investigation is ridiculous on any day but especially so on a day the President is considering launching airstrikes against Iran in retaliation for their crackdown on free speech.”
Sen. Elise Slotkin (Mich.), a former CIA analyst, shared in a video on Wednesday that the offices for U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, the top federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C., contacted her last week for interviews.
U.S. Senator Mark Kelly and Reps. Jason Crow, Chris Deluzio, and Maggie Goodlander also appeared in the video.
Sen. Mark Kelly sues the Pentagon
Sen. Mark Kelly (D., Arizona) filed a lawsuit against the Pentagon and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Monday over Hegseth’s attempts to punish Kelly for his participation in the November video.
Kelly claims the Trump administration is violating his constitutional rights to free speech after Hegseth censured the Arizona senator and former U.S. Navy pilot. Hegseth said the Jan. 5 censure was “a necessary process step” to proceedings that could result in a demotion from Kelly’s retired rank of captain and subsequent reduction in retirement pay.
“The First Amendment forbids the government and its officials from punishing disfavored expression or retaliating against protected speech,” Kelly’s lawsuit says. “That prohibition applies with particular force to legislators speaking on matters of public policy.”
Although all six lawmakers served in the military or intelligence agencies, Kelly is formally retired from the military, Hegseth said, which means the senator still falls under the Pentagon’s jurisdiction. The Pentagon opened its own investigation into Kelly in November, after he appeared in the video.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.