Defend, defend, defend

Two Democratic senators gird for a Trump legal onslaught — with new money machines

Sen. Mark Kelly. (Photo: Gage Skidmore)

Say someone — perhaps the United States’ commander-in-chief — says you’ve engaged in sedition, which they note is “punishable by death.”

And say you happen to be a U.S. senator — one who not only believes you have not engaged in sedition, but have done the nation a great service by asking U.S. troops and American intelligence officials to defy the wishes of the president of the United States in order to uphold the U.S. Constitution and general rule of law.

In this scenario, you might do as Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly and Elissa Slotkin did and quietly form legal defense funds in the midst of threats from President Donald Trump.

From my exclusive report in NOTUS:

Both senators appeared in a video last month, along with four other Democratic lawmakers, telling military and intelligence community members they should refuse “illegal” orders. All the lawmakers in the video are military veterans or former intelligence officials — and urged military members and federal intelligence personnel to uphold their oaths to defend the Constitution and comply with the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Their legal defense funds state in their filings that they’re “Senate approved,” and both senators’ offices confirmed that they received prior approval from the Senate Ethics Committee — a prerequisite for forming such funds.

The FBI has in recent days begun investigating both lawmakers, several members of Congress have confirmed. The Defense Department has separately begun investigating Kelly, who in addition to his tenure as an astronaut is a retired Navy captain.

More from my story in NOTUS:

“Donald Trump is abusing his power and bringing the full weight of the executive branch to bear in an unconstitutional effort to intimidate Senator Kelly,” Kelly spokesman Jacob Peters said in a statement to NOTUS. “Senator Kelly is preparing to fight back, so that he can continue to stand up, speak out, and do his job for Arizona and the country.”

Slotkin spokesperson Sonja Thrasher told NOTUS that a legal defense fund allows the senator to “be prepared to fight back against any false and vindictive allegations.

“Since President Trump called for Senator Slotkin to be arrested, tried, and hanged on Nov. 20, he has attempted to weaponize federal law enforcement and America’s legal system against her, reportedly over the objections of career FBI personnel,” Thrasher said.

What does Trump think about this?

I asked the White House:

Told of the legal defense funds, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement to NOTUS on Saturday night: “Despite their outlandish and dangerous claims, Democrats were unable to list any examples of unlawful orders when asked — because there have been none. It should deeply concern all Americans that elected Democrats are publicly urging the military to openly defy the chain-of-command and the commander-in-chief’s lawful orders to subvert the will of the American people.”

Please read the full story here.