Trump accuses Democratic lawmakers who urged military to disobey illegal orders of ‘seditious behavior, punishable by death’

By Samantha Waldenberg, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump on Thursday called for the arrest of Democratic lawmakers who urged service members and intelligence officials to disobey illegal orders that might be issued by the administration, calling it “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”

“It’s called SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL. Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

He was referring to half a dozen members of Congress who previously served in the military or intelligence community who posted a video on X earlier this week urging the military and intelligence community to “refuse illegal orders.”

“Their words cannot be allowed to stand – We won’t have a Country anymore!!! An example MUST BE SET,” Trump wrote, going on to add in a subsequent Truth Social post: “LOCK THEM UP???”

He added “punishable by DEATH!” in yet another post later Thursday morning, after reposting another user’s post that read: “HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD !!”

CNN has reached out to the White House and to the lawmakers who appeared in the video.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and his leadership team released a sharply worded statement against what they described as death threats from Trump against the lawmakers.

“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 in part.

In the video, the lawmakers said, “No one has to carry out orders that violate the law, or our Constitution,” adding, “Know that we have your back. … Don’t give up the ship.” The lawmakers don’t specify which orders service members have received, or might receive, that could be illegal.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Wednesday that the Justice Department will be taking a “very close look” at those lawmakers’ actions, calling it a “disgusting and inappropriate display of supposed leadership from the Democrat Party.”

This story has been updated with additional details.

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CNN’s Camila DeChalus, Arlette Saenz, Sarah Ferris, Natasha Bertrand and Zachary Cohen contributed to this story.