Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., is reportedly the subject of a federal investigation following a controversial video in which she and several other lawmakers encouraged service members to “refuse illegal orders.”
The senator told me The New York Times that she discovered the investigation was initiated by the office of U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro.
The Times reported that Pirro’s office sent an email to the Senate sergeant-at-arms requesting an interview with Slotkin or her private attorney. Slotkin reportedly described the investigation to the Times as an attempt by an authoritarian president to use the federal government as a tool of intimidation.
“Facts matter little, but the threat matters quite a bit,” Slotkin told the Times. “The threat of legal action; the threat to your family; the threat to your staff; the threat to you.”
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The controversial video, posted in November, featured several lawmakers, including Slotkin, 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, D-Colo. All of the Democrats who took part in the video, which was dismissed as a call to defy President Donald Trump and his Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, had military and intelligence backgrounds.
Trump denounced the video, saying in multiple Truth Social posts that the lawmakers who took part had engaged in “seditious conduct.”
“This is called seditious behavior at the highest level. Every one of these traitors to our country must be arrested and brought to justice. Their words cannot stand – we will have no country left!!! An example MUST be set,” the president wrote on November 20.
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The same day, Trump wrote in a separate Truth Social post: “Seditious conduct, punishable by death!” The statement caused an uproar, with many criticizing what they perceived as a threat from the president.
The video was released amid a national debate over Trump’s deployment of the National Guard in several cities across the country.
Slotkin, a former CIA officer who served in Iraq, is the latest lawmaker linked to the video to face investigation.
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, D-Colo., released a video addressed to military and intelligence officers saying, “Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders.” (Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images; Mark Kelly; Elissa Slotkin; Congres)
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Kelly, a retired Navy captain and astronaut, sued the War Department and Hegseth over the department’s actions to demote him and reduce his retirement benefits over the video. The lawsuit against the senator states that the Trump administration’s actions “violate the protections the Constitution recognizes as essential to the independence of the legislature.”
“It appears that at no time in our nation’s history has the executive branch imposed military sanctions on a member of Congress for engaging in unfavorable political speech,” the lawsuit said.
The Pentagon’s actions “violate numerous constitutional guarantees and have no legal basis,” the lawsuit adds.
A War Department official told Fox News Digital that the agency was aware of the lawsuit.
“However, as a matter of policy, the ministry does not comment on pending litigation,” the official said.
Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., is seen in Dirksen’s Senate office building. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Hegseth previously moved to censure Kelly, saying earlier this month that he had ordered Navy Secretary John Phelan to review the retired Navy captain’s retirement rank and salary and make a recommendation within 45 days, sharply escalating an investigation alleging he made “inflammatory statements” that undermined military operations.
In a statement to
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Slotkin and Pirro’s offices did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Bonny Chu and Lorraine Taylor contributed to this report.
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