The statement Tuesday came a day after the Pentagon said it was reviewing Senator Mark Kelly, a U.S. Navy veteran and one of six lawmakers, for possible violations of military law.
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President Donald Trump had previously accused the lawmakers of treason and said in a social media post that the crime was punishable by “death.”
All six Democratic lawmakers seen in the video have served in the military or intelligence community.
Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, one of the six in the video, told reporters on Tuesday that “the counterterrorism division at the FBI sent a note to members of Congress saying they are opening an investigation into the six of us.”
Slotkin called it Trump’s “scare tactics.”
“Whether you agree with the video or don’t agree with the video, the question for me is this: Is this an appropriate response for the President of the United States to try to weaponize the federal government against people with whom he disagrees?” Slotkin said.
‘Threats, harassment’
The lawmakers said their video statements accurately reflected US law. US soldiers take an oath to the US Constitution, not the President, and under military regulations they must obey “any lawful general order or regulation”.
Other Democrats seen in the video released last week include U.S. Representatives Jason Crow, Maggie Goodlander, Chris DeLuzio and Chrissy Houlahan, all military veterans.
“President Trump is using the FBI as a tool to intimidate and harass members of Congress,” the four House Democrats said in a joint statement. “Yesterday, the FBI contacted the House and Senate sergeants-at-arms to request interviews.”
He said that “any kind of threat or harassment will not stop us from doing our job and respecting our Constitution”.
There was no immediate comment from Senator Kelly.
The Reuters news agency, citing a Justice Department official, reported that the FBI interviews were to determine “if there was any wrongdoing, and then go from there”.
The FBI is led by Trump appointee Kash Patel.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in a memo made public Tuesday, referred Kelly to the Navy Secretary for “potentially unlawful comments” he made in the video last week. Hegseth said he wanted a briefing on the outcome of the review by Dec. 10.
Together, the FBI and Pentagon inquiries signal an extraordinary escalation for federal law enforcement and military institutions that traditionally stay away from partisan clashes. They also underscore the administration’s willingness to push legal boundaries against its critics, even if they are sitting members of Congress.
‘Trivial investigation’
The inquiry has also prompted criticism from Republicans.
Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski criticized both investigations on social media, saying that charging lawmakers with “treason and treason because they correctly reported that service members can refuse illegal orders is reckless and absolutely wrong”.
“The Department of Defense and the FBI certainly have more important priorities than this frivolous investigation,” Murkowski wrote.
The lawmakers said they had no further information, and the FBI did not clarify on what basis they were seeking the interview.
FBI Director Patel described the bureau’s investigation as an “ongoing matter” in an interview with a reporter and explained why he could not discuss details.
Asked for his reaction to the video, Patel said, “The same thing running through my mind is the same thing running through my mind in any case: Is there a valid pretext to initiate an inquiry and investigation, or is there not? And that decision will be made by career agents and analysts here at the FBI.”
In the video, the lawmakers said they needed the troops to “stand up for our laws…our Constitution.” Kelly, who was a fighter pilot before becoming an astronaut and then retired with the rank of captain, told the soldiers that “you can refuse illegal orders”.
The lawmakers did not mention specific circumstances in the video.
At an event in Michigan on Tuesday, Slotkin pointed to the Trump administration ordering the military to blow up small boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean that authorities accused of carrying drugs, and continuing efforts to deploy National Guard troops to US cities despite some legal setbacks.
“It wasn’t that there was any one incident; it was a large number of people coming to us and saying, ‘I’m worried. I’m being sent to Washington’ or ‘I’m now being sent to L.A. or Chicago, North Carolina, and I’m worried I’m going to be asked to do something I don’t know if I should do,'” Slotkin said. “So that’s where it came from.”
Soldiers, especially uniformed commanders, have specific obligations to refuse unlawful orders if they so determine.
Extensive legal precedent also holds that merely following orders, known colloquially as the “Nuremberg Defense” because it was used unsuccessfully by senior Nazi officials under Adolf Hitler to justify their actions, does not absolve soldiers of responsibility.
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