Democratic lawmakers accused US President Donald Trump on Tuesday of using the FBI to intimidate the opposition, after federal agents opened an investigation into them for urging the US armed forces not to follow “illegal orders”.
In a joint statement, four Democratic members of Congress said, “President Trump is using the FBI as a tool to intimidate and harass members of Congress.” They issued the statement after they and two senators released a video last week calling on military personnel and intelligence officers to refuse any “illegal orders” from the Republican president. They stressed that “threats to our Constitution do not only come from abroad, but also from within”.
“No intimidation or harassment will stop us from doing our duty or honouring the Constitution… We will not allow anyone to silence us,” they added.
Senator Elissa Slotkin posted on X that “the president’s reaction and his use of the FBI against us is exactly why we made this video”.
She said Trump believes he can use the federal government against anyone he sees as an enemy and acts as though neither he nor his cabinet must follow the law. “He uses legal harassment as a tactic to silence anyone who speaks out,” added Slotkin, a former CIA officer.
“This is not the America I recognise, and I will not let this new FBI action stop me from defending our country and our Constitution,” she said.
On Monday, the Department of Defence announced an investigation into Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, who appears in the video accusing the Trump administration of “turning the military and the intelligence community against American citizens”. The Pentagon threatened the former Marine pilot and astronaut with a court martial. Trump then demanded on social media that Kelly be arrested, jailed and hanged.
Kelly responded that if the investigation aims to intimidate him or other members of Congress to stop them doing their job and holding the administration accountable, “it will not work”.
“I have given far too much to this country to be silenced by bullies who care more about their own power than protecting the Constitution,” he said.
All six Democrats in the video have served in the US military or the intelligence community.
The video outraged Trump, who accused the Democrats of “seditious behaviour punishable by death”.
“These traitors who told the military to disobey my orders should be in prison right now,” the president wrote on Saturday, using only capital letters.
Featured Photo: FoxNews
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