Trump requires arrest of ‘seditious’ Democrats who advised troops their responsibility is to uphold the Constitution
President Donald Trump lashed out at a group of House Democrats who called for troops to uphold their oaths to the Constitution by demanding that the legislators be arrested and tried for posting a social media video where they urged military members to refuse unspecified unlawful orders.
Writing Thursday on Truth Social, Trump accused senators Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Mark Kelly of Arizona, plus Colorado Rep. Jason Crow, New Hampshire Representative Maggie Goodlander and Pennsylvania’s Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan had engaged in “seditious behavior at the highest level” and called the senators and representatives — all of whom are military veterans — “traitors to our country” who should be “arrested and put on trial.”
“Their words cannot be allowed to stand – We won’t have a Country anymore!!!” he added.
In a second post written after he’d deleted the previous one, Trump called the Democrats’ statements “really bad, and Dangerous to our Country.”
He then added: “Their words cannot be allowed to stand. SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP???”
In the video at issue, the Democratic legislators warned military and intelligence personnel of what they described as “threats to our Constitution” that were coming “from right here at home” — a tacit reference to the Trump administration’s aggressive interpretation of presidential power and what critics describe as the administration’s frequent disregard for existing laws or norms that conflict with the president’s will.
They also tell service members and intelligence officials that “our laws are clear” repeatedly remind them: “You can refuse illegal orders,”
It’s unclear what, if any, legal grounds would exist to prosecute the representatives and senators who incurred the president’s ire, as legislators enjoy broad immunity for statements and other acts taken in their official capacities.
And not only does the First Amendment to the Constitution also provide broad protection for political speech, the United States has not had laws criminalizing speech against the government as “sedition” on the books since Congress repealed the First World War-era Sedition Act in 1920.
There is a section of the U.S. criminal code that prohibits “seditious conspiracy” — a rarely used charge last employed against pro-Trump rioters who participated in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol — but that provision only applies to conspiracies to “levy war against the government,” “oppose the government of the United States by force,” or “prevent, hinder, or delay” the execution of any law by force.”
Crow, a former Army Ranger who served three tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, defended the video during a Wednesday appearance on Fox News, citing Trump’s push to have National Guard soldiers shoot protesters during his first term, his recent attempts to use federalized guard soldiers for domestic law enforcement, and threats to send troops to polling stations during next year’s midterm elections.
He noted that Trump had made what he called “a series of very disturbing comments and suggestions that would violate U.S. law and put our military in a terrible position.”
“I don’t want to wait until that happens to remind our troops of this obligation because then it will be too late,” he said.
“We are standing by our troops, our service members who are often put in very difficult positions and Donald Trump has put them in very difficult positions and has alluded to putting them in even more difficult positions in the months and years ahead, so we are reminding folks about what the uniform code of military justice says, what the Constitution says, what the law of war says,” he added.
The president’s latest call to prosecute members of the opposition party for protected political speech comes just a day after one of his top aides, Deputy Chief of Staff and Homeland Security Adviser Stephen Miller, erupted in anger at the Democrats’ message during a Fox News interview where he accused the military veterans of having issued a ““general call for rebellion… from the CIA and the armed services.”
“It is insurrection, plainly, directly, without question,” Miller said.
A similar message on X posted by Miller also drew a pointed response from Kelly, a former NASA astronaut who previously served as a Naval aviator who flew 39 combat missions during Operation Desert Storm.
While quoting Miller’s post, Kelly wrote: “I got shot at serving our country in combat, and I was there when your boss sent a violent mob to attack the Capitol. I know the difference between defending our Constitution and an insurrection, even if you don’t.”
The video also drew a threatening response from Todd Blanche, the sitting Deputy Attorney General who previously served as Trump’s personal attorney.
Speaking to Fox host Sean Hannity, Blanche denounced the members’ video as “alarming” and a “disgusting and inappropriate display of supposed leadership from the Democrat [sic] Party.”
“I felt like I was watching a propaganda video by one of our enemies trying to recruit the military to become spies,” Blanche said. He also called for the legislators to be “held to account” and vowed that the Justice Department would “a close look” at whether they had broken any laws.
Source: independent.co.uk
