‘I won’t be intimidated’: Dem lawmaker vows to fight after DOJ expands probe of ‘illegal orders’ video

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has requested an interview with Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) over his participation in a video last year reminding U.S. military and intelligence service members that they are obligated to refuse illegal orders.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, led by staunch Trump ally and former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, sought the interview with Crow.

“Donald Trump called for my arrest, prosecution, and execution—all because I said something he didn’t like,” Crow said in a statement to Democracy Docket. “Now he’s pressuring his political appointees to harass me for daring to speak up and hold him accountable.”

“I won’t be intimidated and will keep fighting to uphold my oath to the Constitution and defend our country,” Crow added.

Crow is the second Democratic lawmaker to be contacted by the DOJ over the video this week. 

On Tuesday, Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), who organized the video, said Pirro’s office also sought an interview with her and her legal counsel in an email to the Senate’s sergeant-at-arms. 

The requests are the Trump administration’s latest attempt to punish the six Democratic lawmakers who participated in the video. They represent an unprecedented assault on protected political speech.

In the video, the lawmakers restated a fundamental principle of military law: that service members swear an oath to the Constitution, not a person, obligating them to obey lawful orders, but also requiring them to disobey manifestly illegal orders.

After the lawmakers released the video, Trump expressed support for imprisoning and executing them, all of whom are military veterans or former intelligence officers, for what he termed “seditious behavior” — a concept that does not exist under U.S. law.

The potential probes into the lawmakers appear to violate DOJ policy and guidelines, which generally prohibit investigations from being initiated solely based on activities protected by the First Amendment, including protected speech. 

In addition to Slotkin and Crow, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) is under investigation by the Pentagon at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s direction for his participation in the video.

Hegseth has also moved to reduce Kelly’s retired Navy rank and pension in retaliation for the video, though the senator sued the defense secretary over that effort this week.

In a video statement released Wednesday on social media, Slotkin said Pirro’s investigation appears to be separate from the FBI’s inquiry into the lawmakers, which is being carried out by its counter-terrorism division.

“To be clear, this is the president’s playbook,” Slotkin said. “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.”