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4 More Lawmakers in Video Say Federal Prosecutors Are Investigating Them

The lawmakers, all Democrats who urged military service members not to follow illegal orders, said prosecutors had contacted them. But it is unclear what crime they might have committed.

Washington, January 14, 2026
Originally published in The New York Times
Written by Greg Jaffe

Four more Democratic lawmakers said on Wednesday that they were being investigated for their participation in a video urging military service members to resist illegal orders.

Representatives Jason Crow of Colorado, Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire, Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania all reported that they had received inquiries from Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia and a longtime ally of President Trump, requesting an interview with them or their private counsel.

The disclosures follow a similar one this week by Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan.

Mr. Trump and other administration officials have described the video, which restates a fundamental principle of military law, as “seditious.” But it is unclear what possible crime the lawmakers are believed to have committed.

The investigations are the latest escalation in a campaign by Mr. Trump and his allies to exact retribution on those he views as enemies. They also add to a growing list of high-profile targets who have clashed with Mr. Trump and are now being investigated by Ms. Pirro’s office, including the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome H. Powell.

A spokesman for Ms. Pirro’s office on Wednesday declined to confirm or deny any investigation.

Ms. Slotkin, who organized the video, served three tours in Iraq with the C.I.A. The other five members who appeared in the video, which was released in November, all served in the U.S. military. All six lawmakers also said they had received an inquiry from the F.B.I.’s counterterrorism division late last year.

Mr. Crow, who served as an Army Ranger and led troops in combat, accused Mr. Trump in a video post to social media of “using his political cronies in the Department of Justice to continue to threaten and intimidate us.

Ms. Houlahan, an Air Force veteran, said on social media that she and her colleagues were being targeted because they had said something that Mr. Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “didn’t want anyone to hear.”

“This investigation is ridiculous on any day but especially so on a day the President is considering launching airstrikes against Iran in retaliation for their crack down on free speech,” she said.

Ms. Goodlander, a Navy veteran, called the Trump administration’s response “sad and telling” in a social media post.

“These threats will not deter, distract, intimidate, or silence me,” she added.

In a video released on Wednesday, Ms. Slotkin disparaged the investigation and Mr. Trump’s attacks on her and her colleagues as “legal intimidation and physical intimidation meant to get you to shut up.” But she vowed that they would not work.

“Right now, speaking out against the abuse of power is the most patriotic thing we can do,” she said.

Last week, Mr. Hegseth announced that the military had started administrative actions against Senator Mark Kelly, Democrat of Arizona and a retired Navy captain, who also participated in the video. The proceedings could result in a reduction in his rank and military pension.

As a retired naval officer, Mr. Kelly, who flew 39 combat missions as a naval aviator and four spaceflights as an astronaut, is subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice and therefore can be recalled to active duty and disciplined. The other Democratic lawmakers in the video did not serve long enough to retire and do not receive a pension or fall under military law.

In a lawsuit filed on Monday, Mr. Kelly called the Pentagon’s efforts to punish him “unlawful and unconstitutional” and asked a federal judge to block them.