Last November, six members of Congress, all Democrats, posted a video that reminded U.S. military personnel of their duty to "refuse illegal orders." That well-established principle, which is reflected in the Defense Department's Law of War Manual, is legally uncontroversial. And as a federal judge later noted, the video was "unquestionably protected" by the First Amendment. President Donald Trump nevertheless insisted that the legislators had committed a grave crime.
"It's called SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL." He added that "their words cannot be allowed to stand" because "we won't have a Country anymore!!!" He later reiterated that the legislators who produced the video had engaged in "SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR," which he claimed is "punishable by DEATH!"
