- FBI requests interviews with US Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly, and other lawmakers involved in a controversial social media video
- Slotkin called FBI involvement a ‘scare tactic,’ stands by comments that military service members should defy ‘illegal orders’
- President Donald Trump accused Slotkin and others who participated in the video of sedition ‘punishable by DEATH’
Michigan US Sen. Elissa Slotkin and other Democratic lawmakers involved in a controversial social media video are now the subject of a Federal Bureau of Investigation inquiry, they said Tuesday.
Speaking at a fire hall in Inkster, Slotkin said the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division notified Congress of the potential probe Monday evening — six days after she posted the video in which they called on U.S. military members to uphold the Constitution and defy “illegal orders.”
Slotkin, who accused Trump of “weaponizing the federal government” against his critics, also suggested Tuesday that the CIA, her former employer, “has been talking about me.”
The Holly Democrat said she has seen “an immediate and massive uptick in the number of death threats” sent to her office, as well as a bomb threat at her farm after Trump last week accused her and other lawmakers of sedition “punishable by DEATH.”
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She said she and the five other Democrats involved are currently receiving round-the-clock security detail from the Capitol Police.
“My family has been harassed,” Slotkin said. “It’s been an immediate change to our life.”
The 90-second video posted on social media last week featured Slotkin, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and Reps. Jason Crow, Chris Deluzio, Maggie Goodlander and Chrissy Houlahan. All six are veterans of the armed services and intelligence community.
In the clip, they suggested the Trump administration “is pitting our uniformed military against American citizens,” calling on service members to “stand up for our laws” and defy unlawful orders, as prescribed by the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Trump responded by accusing the lawmakers of sedition, calling for their arrest and trial. Pentagon officials also rejected the insinuation that military service members were receiving illegal orders.
Calling the lawmakers involved “traitors” in a subsequent social media post, Trump argued the insinuation was “really bad, and Dangerous to our Country.”
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a Bridge Michigan inquiry Tuesday afternoon, but an unnamed department official told Reuters the FBI had requested interviews with all six lawmakers.
Four House members involved in the initial video on Tuesday confirmed the FBI had reached out to the House and Senate to request interviews, adding in a joint statement that “no amount of intimidation or harassment will ever stop us from doing our jobs and honoring our Constitution.”
The Pentagon is already investigating Kelly and warned Monday it could recall him to active duty to face a court martial.
“The president’s reaction and the use of the FBI against us is exactly why we made the video,” Slotkin said Tuesday, calling the apparent FBI inquiry a “scare tactic.”
“If he’s going to use the FBI against members of Congress, what would he do to average citizens who don’t have that elected cover?” she continued. “I feel strongly that we were doing what we believed was right based on our oath of office to the Constitution.”
Last week, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat who has sought to find common ground with Trump, criticized his rhetoric.
“In America, we do not target or threaten our political opponents with violence,” Whitmer said in a statement at the time. “Today’s message from the president tears at the seams of those fundamental values.”
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