Trump Investigates Another Senator, Also a Veteran, for Reminding the Military to Ignore His Illegal Orders

Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona is suing Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth for violating his First Amendment rights by censuring him for participating in a video restating established policy that members of the U.S. military are required to refuse illegal orders. Now, they’re opening an investigation into the senator—Elissa Slotkin, Democrat of Michigan—who organized the video.

The New York Times has the story:

Ms. Slotkin, a Democrat, said in an interview on Monday that she found out about the inquiry from the office of Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia and a longtime ally of President Trump’s. In an email sent to the Senate’s sergeant-at-arms, Ms. Pirro’s office requested an interview with the senator or her private counsel.

A spokesman for Ms. Pirro’s office declined to confirm or deny any investigation, and it is unclear exactly what officials have identified as a possible crime related to the video.

Ms. Slotkin organized the video, which Mr. Trump and other administration officials have described as “seditious,” along with five other Democratic lawmakers who are also military veterans. Its message that military officers are obligated to ignore illegal orders is a fundamental principle of military law. …

Ms. Slotkin, a former C.I.A. officer who served three tours in Iraq, described the investigation as an effort by an authoritarian president to weaponize the federal government and intimidate her into silence. “Facts matter little, but the threat matters quite a bit,” she said. “The threat of legal action; the threat to your family; the threat to your staff; the threat to you.”

As with Kelly, there is little chance of successfully prosecuting Slotkin merely for restating what is already established law. But in both cases, the process is the punishment, intended to deter others, especially those who are more vulnerable than U.S. senators, from opposing the administration.

The Executive Watch is a project of the Institute for the Study of Modern Authoritarianism, and its flagship publication The UnPopulist, to track in an ongoing way the abuses of the power of the American presidency. It sorts these abuses into five categories: Personal Grift, Political Corruption, Presidential Retribution, Power Consolidation, and Policy Illegality. Click the category of interest to get an overview of all the abuses under it.

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