November 25, 2025 12:15 PM UTC

Trump Apparently Serious About Punishing Dissident Democrats

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• by: Colorado Pols

TUESDAY UPDATE: Fox News breaks the news this morning that the FBI is investigating Democrats who participated in a video about the law pertaining to obedience to illegal orders, including Colorado’s Rep. Jason Crow:

The FBI and Department of Justice have contacted Capitol Police to schedule interviews with the six members of Congress who appeared in a controversial video urging service members to ignore orders they may deem illegal, Fox News has learned.

Last week, a group of Democratic lawmakers with military and intelligence backgrounds, including Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich.; Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz.; Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pa.; Rep. Maggie Goodlander, D-N.H.; Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa.; and Rep. Jason Crow released a video directed at service members and intelligence officers stating: “Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders.”

In response to the video, President Donald Trump said the lawmakers should be arrested and tried for “seditious behavior.”

To which the lawmakers involved issued another joint statement:

Joint statement in response to FBI inquiry: pic.twitter.com/SYPWCnZpjA

— Rep. Jason Crow (@RepJasonCrow) November 25, 2025

And now we wait to see whether this latest unprecedented conflict between the executive and legislative branches has legs.

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As NPR’s Scott Neuman reports, the furor over last week’s video message from veteran Democratic lawmakers reminding military personnel of their obligation to refuse illegal orders continues to reverberate, with the Department of Defense WAR YOU P*SSIES plotting a court-martial of one of the retired military officers involved:

The Pentagon said Monday it is investigating Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, a retired U.S. Navy fighter pilot and NASA astronaut, for possible violations of military law after he appeared in a video with other Democratic lawmakers urging active duty military and intelligence personnel to refuse “illegal orders.”

In the case of Kelly, the Pentagon put out a statement saying that it had “received serious allegations of misconduct against Captain Mark Kelly, USN (Ret.),” and that “a thorough review of these allegations has been initiated to determine further actions, which may include recall to active duty for court-martial proceedings or administrative measures.”

Similar action is not being taken at the moment against Colorado’s Rep. Jason Crow, as the Washington Post reports, Sen. Kelly is the only one being targeted due to his retirement status leaving him subject to military law:

Hegseth said Kelly is the only lawmaker of the six who falls under the Uniform Code of Military Justice and thus is the only one being investigated…

Experts on military law said the inquiry was almost unprecedented. The Pentagon has recalled retired service members after discovering they committed illegal conduct while still on active duty. But that is far different than investigating someone for expressing an opinion after retirement, said Geoffrey Corn, a former Army judge advocate general who now teaches at Texas Tech University.

Although Rep. Crow appears to have escaped Pete Hegseth’s vengeance for the time being, the Trump-owned Justice Department has announced its own investigation, and it remains to be seen whether today’s setback in court of politically motivated charges against Trump enemies will lead to throttling of the administration’s swashbuckling abuse of judicial power. Our guess is it will not.

In the long run, history is on the side of these lawmakers, like it is for all of Trump’s enemies facing the power of the state on his crooked behalf. In the short run, unfortunately, Trump has the power and the lack of scruples to make dissent an unpleasant and costly experience.

In this standoff between veterans and the draft dodger, our money remains on the veterans.