U.S. Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) looks on at a press conference calling for the release of the Epstein files, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., November 18, 2025. Picture taken November 18, 2025.
Annabelle Gordon | Reuters
The FBI is seeking to interview Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona and five other congressional Democrats in connection with their appearance in a video encouraging members of the U.S. military to refuse to follow illegal orders, those lawmakers confirmed Tuesday.
President Donald Trump last week blasted the video, accusing Kelly and the other lawmakers of “seditious behavior,” calling them “traitors,” and saying that, “In the old days, if you said a thing like that, that was punishable by death.”
The other lawmakers on the video were Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, as well as House Reps. Jason Crow of Colorado, Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire, and Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan, both of Pennsylvania.
Slotkin said the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division “appeared to open an inquiry into me in response to a video President Trump did not like.”
“The President directing the FBI to target us 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 laws apply to him or his Cabinet. He uses legal harassment as an intimidation tactic to scare people out of speaking up.”
Goodlander, Crow, Deluzio, and Houlahan, in a joint statement, said, “President Trump is using the FBI as a tool to intimidate and harass members of Congress,”
“Yesterday, the FBI contacted the House and Senate Sergeants at Arms requesting interviews,” the statement said.
“No amount of intimidation or harassment will ever stop us from doing our jobs and honoring our Constitution,” the lawmakers said. “We swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. That oath lasts a lifetime, and we intend to keep it. We will not be bullied. We will never give up the ship.”
Kelly’s office told NBC News, “Senator Kelly won’t be silenced by President Trump and Secretary Hegseth’s attempt to intimidate him and keep him from doing his job as a U.S. Senator.”
Fox News first reported on the FBI’s efforts.
Earlier Tuesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth lashed out online over Kelly’s display of his U.S. Navy medals after the Pentagon began investigating him for encouraging service members to refuse to obey unlawful orders.
“So ‘Captain’ Kelly, not only did your sedition video intentionally undercut good order & discipline … but you can’t even display your uniform correctly,” Hegseth snapped in a post on X, which replied to a tweet by Kelly showing his medals.
“Your medals are out of order & rows reversed. When/if you are recalled to active duty, it’ll start with a uniform inspection,” said Hegseth, a former Fox News host and a former major in the Army National Guard.
The Pentagon on Monday said it was investigating “serious allegations of misconduct” against Kelly, who is a retired Navy captain, for his role in the video.
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) military uniform.
Source: @SenMarkKelly | X
The Pentagon said Kelly could be recalled to active military duty and face a possible court-martial for potential violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
The UCMJ requires service members to obey “any lawful general order or regulation.”
Kelly, in response Monday, posted on X a statement saying that the Pentagon’s probe “won’t work” if “this is meant to intimidate me and other members of Congress from doing our jobs and holding this administration accountable.”
His post also included a close-up photo of Kelly in his Naval uniform, showing the medals on the shirt’s breast pocket.
“Our laws are clear: you can refuse illegal orders,” Kelly said on the video, which was tweeted on Nov. 18 by Slotkin of Michigan, a former CIA analyst.
Slotkin wrote in her tweet: “We want to speak directly to members of the Military and the Intelligence Community. The American people need you to stand up for our laws and our Constitution. Don’t give up the ship.”
The video was made as the U.S. military, under Trump, has carried out more than 20 airstrikes on boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean against purported drug smugglers, killing scores of people on those vessels.
The legality of those strikes, which were made without congressional authorization, has been questioned.
On Monday, a group of Democratic senators, including Kelly and Slotkin, wrote Hegseth and Attorney General Pam Bondi to request that they declassify a Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel’s written opinion from September on the domestic and international legal basis for the strikes.
FBI Director Kash Patel, speaks during a press conference related to 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 Munoz | Reuters
“Few decisions are more consequential for a democracy than the use of lethal force,” the letter said.
“We therefore believe that the declassification and public release of this important document would enhance transparency in the use of deadly force by our Nation’s military and is necessary to ensure Congress and the American people are fully informed of the legal justification supporting these strikes,” it said.