‘Legal Intimidation and Physical Intimidation’: Slotkin Condemns Trump Administration’s Investigation Into Her Over ‘Illegal Orders’ Video

Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan accused President Donald Trump of trying to intimidate and silence her by investigating her for her participation in a video that urged U.S. troops to refuse illegal orders. “To be clear, this is the President’s playbook,” Slotkin said in a video she shared on X on Wednesday. “Truth doesn’t matter, facts don’t matter, and anyone who disagrees with him becomes an enemy, and he then weaponizes the federal government against them. It’s legal intimidation and physical intimidation meant to get you to shut up.” “He’s used it with our universities, our corporations, our legal community, and with politicians who falsely believe that doing his bidding and staying quiet will keep them safe,” she continued. “No. I’m not going to do that. Because this President does not represent the views of a majority of Americans. Even if you voted for him, I do not believe that his vision of America is shared by a majority of Americans.” Slotkin, a former CIA officer, said that the U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., Jeanine Pirro, asked to interview her last week because of her participation in the video she, along with five other Democratic lawmakers, filmed and released in November. In the video, the politicians—all of whom either served in the military or in national security roles before they were elected to office—told members of the military and intelligence community that they can, and should, refuse to carry out orders “that violate the law or our Constitution.”  The lawmakers didn’t mention any specific orders in the video, but Trump’s use of the military—including strikes on boats the Administration has claimed were transporting drugs in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean—has generated widespread controversy and legal scrutiny. The video quickly drew the ire of the President, who made multiple social media posts expressing his fury at the Democratic politicians over what he labeled “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” But legal experts previously told TIME that there was nothing in the video that was “seditious” or “illegal.” “They were not encouraging the disobedience of lawful orders,” one expert said. “They were encouraging the disobedience of unlawful orders. And that is a correct statement of the law.” Read more: Is It ‘Seditious’ or ‘Illegal’ to Urge the Military to Refuse Unlawful Orders? Legal Experts Weigh In The Trump Administration, however, has launched multiple attempts to investigate the lawmakers over the video. Last week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that his department was initiating proceedings against retired Navy captain Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, one of the lawmakers in the video, that could lead to a reduction in the Senator’s military pension. Hegseth accused Kelly and the other lawmakers of releasing a “reckless and seditious video that was clearly intended to undermine good order and military discipline,” adding that Kelly “is still accountable to military justice.” Kelly condemned the move, saying, “If Pete Hegseth, the most unqualified Secretary of Defense in our country’s history, thinks he can intimidate me with a censure or threats to demote me or prosecute me, he still doesn’t get it. I will fight this with everything I’ve got.” On Monday, Kelly filed a lawsuit against Hegseth and the Pentagon over the administrative action. Slotkin, who first told The New York Times about the investigation into her, didn’t share any further details about the inquiry. Pirro’s office has not publicly released any information about the investigation, and a spokesperson for the office declined to confirm or deny to TIME the existence of an investigation into Slotkin. In her message on Wednesday, Slotkin revealed that she received more than 1,000 threats in the wake of Trump’s social media posts. More than 100 of them, she said, were deemed credible and are being investigated. She received a bomb threat to her house, and she was under 24/7 security with the Capitol Police. Her family, too, has been targeted: her parents were “swatted” in the middle of the night. “Swatting” is when an individual makes a phony 911 call to prompt the dispatch of armed officers to an address. Despite the threats—both from the public and from the Trump Administration—Slotkin vowed that she would not be silenced. “This country is worth fighting for. Our freedom of speech is worth fighting for, our values—our core values—are worth fighting for,” she said. “Right now, speaking out against the abuse of power is the most patriotic thing we can do.”