U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) watches a press conference calling for the release of the Epstein file at the Capitol in Washington, DC, on November 18, 2025. The photo was taken on November 18, 2025.
Annabelle Gordon Reuter
The FBI is seeking questioning from Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and five other congressional Democrats in connection with their appearance in a video encouraging U.S. military personnel to refuse to obey illegal orders, lawmakers confirmed Tuesday.
President Donald Trump slammed the video last week, accusing Kelly and other lawmakers of “sedition,” calling them “traitors” and saying, “In the old days, saying things like that was punishable by death.”
Other lawmakers who appeared in the video were Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado, Rep. Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire, and Reps. Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania.
Slotkin said Tuesday that the FBI’s counterterrorism division “appears to have opened an investigation against me in response to a video that President Trump did not like.”
“The President directed the FBI to target us, which is exactly why we made this video in the first place,” Slotkin said in a tweet.
“He believes in weaponizing the federal government against his perceived enemies and does not believe the law applies to him or his Cabinet. He uses legal harassment as an intimidation tactic to scare people into not speaking out.”
“President Trump is using the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as a tool to intimidate and harass members of Congress,” Goodlander, Crow, Deluzio and Houlahan said in a joint statement.
“Yesterday, the FBI contacted the House and Senate sergeants-at-arms and requested interviews,” the statement said.
“No amount of intimidation or harassment will ever prevent us from doing our jobs and respecting the Constitution,” the lawmakers said. “We took an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. That oath is lifelong and we intend to keep it. We will not be bullied. We will never abandon ship.”
“Senator Kerry will not remain silent as President Trump and Secretary Hegseth attempt to intimidate him and prevent him from performing his duties as a senator,” Kelly’s office told NBC News.
Fox News first reported on the FBI’s efforts.
Earlier Tuesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth slammed Kelly online for displaying his U.S. Navy medals after the Pentagon opened an investigation into him for encouraging service members to disobey illegal orders.
“So, ‘Captain’ Kelly, your incendiary video not only intentionally undermines good order and discipline, but also fails to properly wear your uniform,” Hegseth slammed in X’s post, which was in response to Kelly’s tweet showing the medal.
“The medals are out of order, the columns are reversed, and when you’re recalled to active duty, it’s going to start with a uniform inspection,” said Hegseth, a former Fox News host and retired Army National Guard major.
The Pentagon announced on Monday that it was investigating “allegations of serious misconduct” over Kelly, a former Navy captain, who appeared in the video.
Military uniform of Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.).
Source: @SenMarkKelly | ×
The Pentagon said Kelly could be recalled to military service and face court-martial for possible violations of the Uniform Act of Military Justice.
The UCMJ requires military personnel to comply with “all lawful general orders or regulations.”
In response, Kelly posted a statement on X on Monday, saying the Pentagon investigation “doesn’t work” if “this is intended to intimidate me and other members of Congress into doing our jobs and hold the administration accountable.”
His post also included a close-up photo of Kelly in his Navy uniform, showing a medal in the breast pocket of his shirt.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, denounced the Pentagon’s investigation of Kelly and the FBI’s investigation of him and other members of Congress.
“Senator Kerry bravely served our country as a U.S. Navy aviator before later completing four Space Shuttle missions as a NASA astronaut,” Murkowski wrote in a post on X.
“It is reckless and completely wrong to accuse him and other members of Congress of treason and sedition for rightly pointing out that military personnel can refuse illegal orders,” she wrote. “The Department of Defense and the FBI certainly have more important priorities than this frivolous investigation.”
“Our laws are clear: We can refuse illegal orders,” Kelly said in the video.
In a Nov. 18 tweet introducing the video, Slotkin, a former CIA analyst, wrote, “We want to speak directly to members of the military and intelligence community. The American people need you to stand up for our laws and Constitution. Don’t abandon ship.”
The video was made as the U.S. military under the Trump administration conducted more than 20 airstrikes on ships in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific against people it called drug smugglers, killing scores of people aboard those vessels.
The legality of these strikes, which were carried out without parliamentary approval, has been questioned.
On Monday, a group of Democratic senators, including Mr. Kelly and Mr. Slotkin, sent a letter to Mr. Hegseth and Attorney General Pam Bondi requesting that, starting in September, the Department of Justice’s Office of General Counsel’s opinion on the domestic and international legal basis for strikes be declassified.
FBI Director Kash Patel speaks during a press conference regarding the arrests of NBA players and coaches for illegal gambling schemes at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn, New York, October 23, 2025.
Eduardo Muñoz | Reuters
“There is no decision more important to a democracy than the use of deadly force,” the letter said.
“Therefore, we believe that the declassification and release of this important document increases transparency into the use of deadly force by our military and is necessary to fully inform Congress and the American people of the legal justification for supporting these attacks.”
