U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio said he doesn’t intend to voluntarily comply with a Justice Department investigation into a video he and five Democratic colleagues made last year telling servicemembers they have an obligation to refuse illegal orders.
“I do not intend to sit down for a voluntary interview with DOJ or FBI officials sent to interfere with the important work I’m doing for my constituents,” Deluzio, a Democrat from Fox Chapel, said in an email to TribLive.
“This should end,” Deluzio said of the government investigation, which he described as a “harassment campaign.” “I will fight hard against any further unlawful escalation.”
The Justice Department declined to comment.
The 90-second video, released in November, ignited controversy. While the six lawmakers said the obligation to refuse illegal orders is established military protocol, President Donald Trump said making the video amounted to “seditious behavior” and could be “punishable by death.”
Trump said each of the lawmakers — all of them former members of the military or intelligence community — should be arrested and put on trial. He shared a post from another Truth Social user saying the lawmakers should be hanged.
The FBI reached out to the lawmakers seeking voluntary interviews. In addition to Deluzio, they included U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, a former CIA officer; U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, a former Navy officer and astronaut; U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania’s Chester County, a former Air Force officer; U.S. Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado, a former Army Ranger and officer; and U.S. Rep. Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire, a former Navy Reserve intelligence officer.
In their video, the lawmakers did not cite any specific orders they thought were illegal and should be ignored. When the video was released, the administration’s decisions to deploy military troops to U.S. cities and conduct military strikes on suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean had raised legal questions and drawn criticism from some.