Several Democratic lawmakers who teamed up for a social media video back in November, urging U.S. service members to refuse illegal orders, say they’re now being contacted by federal prosecutors for questioning.
Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO), a former Army ranger who participated in the video, said he’s one of them.
“Well, I think we have to be really clear at the outset that this is about threatening and intimidating opposition members, people that Donald Trump doesn’t like.” Crow said. “This is chapter one of the autocrats’ playbook. We see it around the world and now we see it here at home. This is what he’s trying to do: silence dissent. And he has weaponized the Department of Justice and the FBI to try to come after members of Congress to get them to back down, to back away, to make our life hell. But he’s chosen the wrong people.”
3 questions with Rep. Jason Crow
The president has targeted his perceived opponents with probes and prosecutions that critics call politically motivated. Didn’t you and your colleagues expect that this video would anger the president and potentially have consequences like this?
“Well, what we expected was to send a message to our service members that they have an obligation to fulfill their oath to the Constitution and to follow the law, because that is not just the right of Congress. That is actually our duty.
“The United States Congress exists to make sure that the executive branch, the military, the DOJ, every agency and department follows the law. That is our constitutional mandate. And that was the point of our video.
“And I simply don’t care whether or not Donald Trump is angry about that or bristles when people remind him or others they need to follow the law. If he gets angry, then so be it. We are not going to back down.
“And let’s also be clear that this is not really about us. This is not about me or Mark Kelly or Jerome Powell. What Donald Trump is trying to do is send a message to leaders of the opposition and threaten or intimidate leaders of the opposition so that the rest of the country, Americans everywhere, think twice about voting, about organizing, about protesting.
“If they think to themselves, ‘Oh, wow, the chair of the Federal Reserve or members of Congress can’t do this without being harassed and intimidated. Then I won’t either.’ So, here’s the deal: Fear is contagious, but so is courage. We are not going to back down and we’re going to set an example that everybody has a right to dissent and has the right to speak their mind.”
So, you’re not going to back down. What does that mean concretely? What are your next steps now that you’re being investigated?
“Well, that means we’re going to do our duty as members of Congress. We’re going to continue to speak up about the lawlessness and the recklessness of this administration, whether it’s unauthorized bombings overseas, it’s violations of the law of war in the Caribbean, it’s violations of domestic law here at home with the use of ICE or our military.
“You know, the president has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act. He’s threatened to send troops to polling stations, which would be a violation of U.S. criminal law.
“We are going to do anything and everything we can to fulfill our obligation. That means speaking up. It means conducting oversight. It means leveraging our appropriations powers, our powers of the purse. And it means just being the leaders that our country needs right now and emboldening other people to do the same. Because ultimately, this is not going to be resolved in Washington, D.C. This is going to be resolved around the country when Americans say enough is enough, they mobilize, they organize, they stand up and they let their voices be heard this coming November.”
Back in 2018, during your race for Congress, you broke with some of your more progressive Democratic peers who called for abolishing ICE. You told the Colorado Sun that you were in the “rule of law” camp. We are now hearing the president this week say that he might invoke the Insurrection Act and deploy the military against anti-ICE protesters in Minnesota. How will you and your colleagues respond to that if it happens?
“This federal agency has become a runaway rogue agency. It is flush with cash because Republicans, House Republicans, jammed through literally in the middle of the night an appropriations bill earlier this year that tripled their budget. They have reduced their recruiting standards. They are not respecting habeas corpus, the rule of law.
“I represent one of the most diverse districts in the nation, a district of immigrants and refugees. Nearly 20% of my constituents were born outside of this country, and they have been victimized and harassed and intimidated by this runaway agency.
“So, I’ve had enough. Many of my colleagues have had enough. This agency needs to be radically reined in. We’re going to conduct oversight. And I’m also sending a message that if you work for ICE or any of these other agencies and you think that you can get away with violating the law and operate with impunity, that accountability will eventually come for you.”
This interview was edited for clarity.
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Hafsa Quraishi produced and edited this interview for broadcast with Chris Bentley. Michael Scotto adapted it for the web.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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