Two Democratic lawmakers – Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Rep. Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania – stated Thursday they won’t sit for interviews with the Justice Department associated to their involvement in a video urging service members to disobey illegal orders.
Slotkin in a video posted to X stated she has knowledgeable Attorney General Pam Bondi and DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro she received’t sit for an interview.
“Earlier today, I sent a letter to Attorney General Bondi and to the lead Department of Justice lawyer in DC, Jeanine Pirro, telling them: 1. I will not be complying with their inquiries and sitting down for an interview based on a 90-second video I filmed, and number 2. Urging them to retain their records on this case in case I decide to sue for infringement of my constitutional rights,” Slotkin stated.
“I’m not going to legitimize their actions,” Slotkin stated. “The intimidation is the point, and I’m not going to go along with that.”
In a separate video posted to X, Houlahan stated of the DOJ request, “I will not be doing that.”
“What is happening now crosses a line when the power of the federal government is turned toward intimidating people, including veterans who have sworn to defend the Constitution and duly elected representatives of the people, for speaking the truth, that is not justice,” Houlahan stated.
“Free speech is not a favor that the government can revoke. It is a right and I will not surrender it, for myself or for anyone else,” Houlahan continued.
NCS has reached out to the Justice Department and DC US Attorney’s Office for remark.
Half a dozen Democratic members of Congress who beforehand served within the army or intelligence group recorded a video urging service members and intelligence officers to disobey unlawful orders that could be issued by President Donald Trump’s administration, NCS previously reported.
At least 4 of the lawmakers who made the video have been contacted by Pirro’s workplace for interviews following their involvement within the controversial video.
Slotkin and Houlahan – together with Sen. Mark Kelly and Reps. Jason Crow, Maggie Goodlander and Chris Deluzio – stated in the November video, “threats to our Constitution” are coming “from right here at home.”
“No one has to carry out orders that violate the law, or our Constitution,” they stated. “Know that we have your back… don’t give up the ship,” the lawmakers stated.
Trump has accused the lawmakers of “seditious behavior” and steered they need to be put to demise, drawing a swift rebuke from Democrats on Capitol Hill, who condemned the president’s feedback as an try to incite violence.
Kelly, who has been publicly attacked by Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth for his function within the video, is suing after a Pentagon move to lower his retirement pay and scale back his rank for collaborating in it.
Earlier this week a federal choose appeared possible to facet with Kelly within the case, which alleges the Pentagon is violating his First Amendment rights by its effort to punish him.