Scott Jennings Delivers Perfect Retort When Asked About FBI Investigating Dems Who Told Military to Ignore Trump

Republican strategist Scott Jennings pushed back hard during a tense CNN segment after host Kasie Hunt floated the idea of FBI involvement in the growing scandal surrounding six Democratic lawmakers who recorded a video urging U.S. troops to disregard orders from President Donald J. Trump.

The Pentagon confirmed Monday it has opened an inquiry into Democratic Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly — a retired Navy captain — after he appeared alongside five other Democrats in the video, telling service members they could refuse “illegal” orders from the commander-in-chief. The unprecedented move has sparked outrage across the political spectrum, with Republicans warning that the lawmakers’ message dangerously undermines civilian control of the military.

During a panel on CNN’s “The Arena,” Hunt pressed Jennings, asking whether Republicans calling for accountability meant GOP lawmakers should also face FBI investigations for political messaging.

“Democrats who are in power and there are Republicans who are making political videos, right? Are they going to use the FBI to investigate them too, right?” Hunt asked.

Jennings immediately reframed the debate, pointing out that Democrats had produced a video insinuating — without evidence — that President Trump was preparing to issue unlawful military commands.

“Plenty of Republicans are outraged about this. This video was clearly designed to try to create a narrative among the American people that the president had been or was about to give illegal orders. And it appears to me that it all has to do with what he’s doing with Venezuela,” Jennings said. “That seems to be what they’re mad about, although they did ask Elissa Slotkin on TV, and she cited a Hollywood movie to rationalize or justify what she had done. I don’t know what the truth is about these interviews, and I don’t know if they’ll ever be compelled to do it or not.”

Jennings emphasized that the Republican Party’s anger centers not on the inquiry itself, but on the recklessness of public officials telling troops to question the legitimacy of orders from their own president.

“I do know whether Republicans are circumspect about the law enforcement angle here. Most Republicans I know are pretty darn angry that Democrats made an irresponsible public statement trying to tell the American people that the commander-in-chief had been or was giving, about to give, an illegal order,” he said.

He added that while some Republicans are cautious about involving federal law enforcement, others believe the matter deserves scrutiny.

“Some Republicans have been circumspect about that. Others that I’ve heard say if there’s something here, it ought to be looked into. I’m going to give you the political analysis, which is most Republicans that I’ve heard from on this and hear about on it are very, very angry that these Democrats did something this irresponsible,” Jennings said.

The Democratic lawmakers have struggled to justify their actions. Democratic Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin — who helped produce the video — admitted Sunday she could not point to a single illegal order from President Trump to support their claim.

War Secretary Pete Hegseth blasted the lawmakers as the “seditious six” in a Monday post on X, noting that Kelly, as a retired Navy commander, is still subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice — a point that significantly raises the stakes of the Pentagon’s inquiry.

Republicans argue the video is nothing short of an attempt to delegitimize the president’s lawful authority over the Armed Forces, warning that normalizing such rhetoric could have catastrophic consequences.