The next is the transcript of the interview with Rep. Jason Crow, Democrat of Colorado, that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Nov. 23, 2025.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And we’re joined right here in studio by Colorado Democratic Congressman Jason Crow, who is likely one of the six lawmakers who launched a recorded video earlier final week urging service members to defy unlawful and illegal orders. Good morning.
JASON CROW: Good morning.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And it was that video that prompted a few of this rhetoric from the President. I wish to communicate although about what’s taking place proper now. I perceive there was a bomb risk towards your workplace in Aurora, Colorado, that your loved ones has acquired painful loss of life threats, even homicide threats. Right here is a few of what your workplace launched.
[SOUND ON TAPE STARTS]
UNKNOWN CALLER 1: I hope you all get murdered.
UNKNOWN CALLER 2: You ain’t an American, f*****, you are a communist
[SOUNDS ON TAPE ENDS]
MARGARET BRENNAN: These, I consider, are telephone calls that have been made to your workplace. Are any of those threats credible?
REPRESENTATIVE JASON CROW: We do not know, Margaret, we’ll take these critically, however it’s very disturbing stuff when you’ve gotten the President of the USA threatening to execute and to hold and to arrest utilizing this rhetoric, folks take heed to it. We have seen earlier than a sample of inciteful, harmful rhetoric being utilized by the president after which folks performing on that. You understand, I lived by way of and skilled January 6, a really comparable dynamic. He is been doing this for years, saying issues and whole disregard for the result, and what may occur when he throws these things out on the earth.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Effectively, the President has made these social media posts, however then he then type of walked a few of these threats again, saying he wasn’t threatening loss of life. He was saying sedition was typically, previously, punishable by loss of life. After which, earlier than you appeared right here right now, on social media he put out, “the traitors that advised the army to disobey my orders, needs to be in jail proper now, not roaming the faux information networks. I assume that is us attempting to clarify what they mentioned was okay. It wasn’t and by no means might be. It was sedition on the highest stage. It is a main crime. There might be no different interpretation of what they mentioned.” That is a quote from what he placed on social media. Do you’ve gotten any concept what all these threats truly imply? As a result of he talked about in an interview army courts and referenced the DOJ as nicely.
REP. CROW: No, we do not know what this implies. He does not know what this implies as a result of he is irresponsible. He is performing harmful. He is performing in an inciteful approach. There’s two issues occurring right here Margaret. One is the irresponsible and harmful rhetoric by the President of the USA threatening to have members of Congress executed who he disagrees with. Nevertheless it’s additionally so telling that when members of Congress merely remind service members of the Structure and their obligation to obey the legislation, which isn’t simply our proper, however is our obligation to do, that he can’t deal with that, and he resorts to threats of violence and threats of arrest and execution. That tells you all the things you could learn about Donald Trump’s respect for the Structure and the rule of legislation, and truly underscores our level.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Effectively, let’s get to the content material of what you had in that video you launched as a result of there are additionally 15 Home Republicans who’re additionally veterans who launched a video, together with a retired three-star Marine Corps basic, Jack Bergman. Take a take heed to this.
[ SOUND ON TAPE STARTS ]
REP. JACK BERGMAN (R-MI) : Troops. Hear up. Any service member who refuses a lawful order is topic to court docket martial for violating the Uniform Code of Navy Justice.
REP. AUGUST PFLUGER (R-TX): We research what’s lawful and what’s not lawful, and the Democrats’ stunt insinuating that there are unlawful or unconstitutional orders. It is downright harmful.
REP. SCOTT PERRY (R-PA) : It’s corrosive. It’s meant to weaken our nation and weaken the army.
[ SOUND ON TAPE ENDS]
MARGARET BRENNAN: How do you reply to those allegations out of your colleagues, fellow veterans, that what you’ve gotten put out there may be weakening and corrosive to the army?
REP. CROW: Effectively, these, sadly, are a few of Trump’s core supporters which are rallying behind the president, they usually know higher. They know precisely the distinction between lawful versus illegal. We have been very clear within the video that what we’re speaking about is illegal orders. You will have the president’s spokesperson occurring right into a press convention this previous week and saying that we known as for folks to disobey lawful orders. They’re merely mendacity as a result of the reality is unacceptable to them. It is unacceptable. We needed to start out a dialog, and we did, concerning the harmful rhetoric this president is utilizing and the threats that he is made to make use of our army in an illegal approach.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Particularly, what?
REP. CROW: Effectively, ship troops into Chicago, ship troops into polling stations, kill terrorist households, arrest and execute, arrest and execute members of Congress–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –he hasn’t finished these issues.
REP. CROW: Shoot peaceable protesters in Lafayette Sq., want I am going on? He has a historical past of doing this, and if we wait till the second that he offers a manifestly illegal order to a younger soldier, then we’ve failed them. We’ve got to start out that dialog now and get folks excited about the excellence which is strictly what we did.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah, so these have been feedback, not orders he gave, and social media posts and like, but- however I hear you that- that phrases matter. However the usual for troops, as I perceive it, is that they need to seek the advice of with the employees decide advocate, the employees authorized counsel relating to orders, if they’ve authorized questions. There’s a course of in place. Are you telling the rank and file troops to go exterior of that apply?
REP. CROW: No, completely not. Let me use an instance of how this performs out and what this seems to be like downrange, as we are saying within the military–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –Yeah, as a result of it sounds such as you’re placing a number of stress on these folks down the chain.
REP. CROW: I did three fight deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. And earlier than every of these fight deployments, I sat my troopers down, my paratroopers and my Rangers, and we talked concerning the legislation of battle. We lo- we talked about lawful versus illegal orders, concerning the safety of civilians in battle, proper? As a result of you may’t wait till a soldier is within the second and has to make a split-second resolution about what to do to coach them, proper? It’s important to discuss it. It’s important to prepare them earlier than, which was why we put this video out, to get folks excited about their obligation. And the entire threats and the entire issues the President have mentioned could be manifestly illegal and could be the kinds of orders that individuals should not carry by way of as a result of they might be homicide if folks truly did the issues that Donald Trump threatened.
MARGARET BRENNAN: However we do not know but that the deployment of troops on U.S. soil, in the event you have been referring to the Nationwide Guard deployments in main U.S. cities, is definitely illegal. That is- that is tied up within the courts proper now.
REP. JASON CROW: Effectively, we’re speaking concerning the resolution of troops on the bottom, out in operations, proper? Their interface with civilians, taking pictures civilians, going to polling stations, which is a violation of U.S. legal legislation. Issues which are ma–
MARGARET BRENNAN:– these items have not occurred, you’re afraid they may.
REP. JASON CROW: –things which are manifestly illegal, that our troops could be put within the place to hold out, as a result of that has what- that’s what the president has repeatedly threatened to do. So once more, it’s totally telling that merely restating their obligation to the Structure and the legislation, which we do continually with our service members will get this sort of response from the president. You understand, I’m not going to be threatened and intimidated by the president of the USA. I’ve a job to do, and that’s to make sure folks comply with the legislation. I took an oath to this nation. It’s a lifetime oath that I intend to hold out, and I’m not going to be intimidated and threatened by the president and cease reminding folks to comply with the legislation.
MARGARET BRENNAN: However I’ve talked to attorneys about this, and army attorneys about this, and there may be some frustration that, you already know, lawmakers have not been in Washington doing their job by way of oversight. There aren’t hearings on Venezuela, there aren’t hearings on these deployments of the Nationwide Guard, and but there are public movies calling on troops at low ranks to make selections unto themselves right here about what’s lawful or illegal, or recall their coaching, or speak to their employees decide advocate about this. I imply this- why not first publicly name for a listening to earlier than you name on them?
REP. CROW: Initially, two separate points. So on the listening to, completely proper. We’re pushing the Trump administration to really give us briefings, give us hearings. Mike Johnson- Speaker Johnson, shut Congress down twice, twice, to keep away from votes on releasing the Epstein recordsdata.
MARGARET BRENNAN: He would argue Democrats shut down Congress to- for the healthcare argument.–
REP. CROW: It is very clear what they did. I nonetheless got here to D.C. anyhow and pushed for oversight and pushed for briefings. So I have been in Congress for seven years nearly, and I’ve by no means seen the dearth of briefings and oversight and skill to entry data. I’ve been fully shut out of the DOD and the CIA at this level as a member of the Intelligence Committee and the Armed Providers Committee. So this administration–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –Is not a lot of this as a result of the Republican management in Congress that is not demanding these issues.
REP. CROW: Precisely, proper.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So-
REP. CROW: Congress has the ability to do that, in order that they’re proper. We have to be doing this. Democrats are attempting to do it. We’re being stonewalled and blocked by the Republicans, blocked by the- by the administration, as a result of they really don’t desire us to do the oversight, as a result of they’re afraid of what we’ll be taught. And that’s completely different, Margaret, than what we’re speaking about, you already know, operational selections, selections to go to to, you already know, battle within the Caribbean, Venezuela, that are strictly inside the purview of Congress. And Congress must be making these selections and debating it, versus–
MARGARET BRENNAN: The White Home says, oh it is not an act of battle. It is, you already know, international coverage. And the president has a number of leeway underneath the Structure. That is their argument.
REP. CROW: Effectively, we have been listening to this for 25 years, which is why Iraq and Afghanistan went on for so long as it did. We spent $3 trillion, misplaced 7000 service members’ lives, and people ended poorly. Congress has to make that call. Congress must be accountable for it, and Congress must be debating this earlier than the American folks, going to the American folks and telling them why they need to ship their little kids into battle and they need to spend lots of of billions of {dollars} of their hard-earned cash. This president does not need that course of to occur. And as someone that did three fight excursions in these wars, I’ve had sufficient of Congress being lower out of it.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Effectively, you may see in a few of our upcoming polling information that the American public would love extra details about the plans for Venezuela, which you have been referencing there. Congressman Crow, thanks.
