MaddowBlog-FBI officials at odds over 'seditious conspiracy' probe of Democratic veterans

[LetMyPeopleVote]

Trump and his team aren’t done going after Democratic lawmakers who told troops to refuse illegal orders.

FBI officials at odds over ‘seditious conspiracy’ probe of Democratic veterans - MS NOW

apple.news/AF30rB9WcRQu...

— (@oc88.bsky.social) 2025-12-04T20:37:15.628Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/fbi-officials-at-odds-over-seditious-conspiracy-probe-of-democratic-veterans

A couple of weeks ago, after several Democratic military veterans urged service members to reject illegal orders, the White House began a furious pushback campaign that was extreme, even by contemporary standards. Donald Trump helped lead the charge, insisting that the Democratic lawmakers, who’d done nothing wrong, had engaged in “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”.....

Bloomberg Law, citing three sources familiar with the situation, reported that FBI leaders are “pressuring the bureau’s domestic terrorism agents to open a seditious conspiracy investigation” into the Democrats who urged service members to follow the law. Those efforts, however, are running into an important snag. From the report:

Career leaders at the bureau’s Washington Field Office have thus far pushed back on the request for a formal investigation, which would follow President Donald Trump’s call for a trial into the Democrats’ ‘seditious behavior,’ the people familiar said. The Washington office supervisors cited a lack of legal and factual basis to initiate a criminal case against the senators and House members who posted a video Nov. 18 reminding service members and the intelligence community of their rights to ‘refuse illegal orders.’

According to the Bloomberg report, which has not been independently verified by MS NOW, FBI leaders want an investigation, while the bureau’s domestic terrorism agents have pointed to the inconvenient reality that there’s no reason to launch such an investigation.

The same report added, “FBI headquarters requested that the investigation arise under the rarely invoked seditious conspiracy statute that DOJ used to convict a small number of Oath Keepers and Proud Boys leaders for organizing the Jan. 6 insurrection at the US Capitol.” (The FBI didn’t respond to Bloomberg’s request for comment.)

If true, the report suggests FBI leaders are pushing a truly bonkers approach, equating lawmakers’ expression of support for the rule of law with the actions of insurrectionists who attacked their own country’s democracy.

[wcmagumba]

1. This whole thing on the part of the t-rump administration is totally bonkers imo...

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. FBI insiders reveal they're being pressured to investigate Dems who angered Trump: report

trump is really mad at these Congresspersons and Senator

FBI insiders revealed on Wednesday that they are being pressured by officials to open an investigation into six Democratic lawmakers who created a video that seemed to make President Donald Trump furious, according to a new report.

— Raw Story (@rawstory.com) 2025-12-04T11:00:17.933Z

https://www.rawstory.com/fbi-2674368226

FBI insiders revealed on Wednesday that they are being pressured by officials to open an investigation into six Democratic lawmakers who created a video that seemed to make President Donald Trump furious, according to a new report.

Bloomberg Law reported on Wednesday, citing three sources familiar with the matter, that FBI agents in the bureau’s domestic terrorism unit are being pressured by officials in Washington to investigate the Democratic lawmakers who made a video telling military members they do not have to follow illegal orders.

Thus far, leaders within the Washington office have pushed back, according to the report. One of the supervisors "cited a lack of legal and factual basis to initiate a criminal case," it added.

"A final FBI decision on whether to launch a formal criminal investigation into the six lawmakers hasn’t been made, added the individuals, who spoke anonymously out of fear of reprisal," the report reads.