The Pentagon announced on Monday that it will investigate Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona for potential breaches of military law over his participation in a video calling on U.S. military members to resist “illegal orders” from superiors. The department argues that Kelly, a retired US Navy captain, has been the subject of “serious allegations of misconduct.”
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The move comes after President Donald Trump called for the arrest of Kelly and five other senators who participated in the video, and suggested their behavior was “punishable by death.”
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All six senators who participated in the video previously served either in the military or in national security positions, though Kelly is the only that was a senior officer in the military. That makes him the only one of the group who by law remains available for recall to the military.
“Five of the six individuals in that video do not fall under Department of War jurisdiction (one is CIA and four are former military but not “retired”, so they are no longer subject to UCMJ),” Defense Director Pete Hegseth said on X, while calling the video “despicable.” “However, Mark Kelly (retired Navy Commander) is still subject to UCMJ—and he knows that.”
The Pentagon argues that the video goes against the “loyalty, morale, or good order and discipline of the armed forces.”
The White House “supports” the investigation, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday after it was announced.
“Senator Mark Kelly well knows the rules of the military and the respect one must have for the chain of command,” Leavitt said. “You can’t have a functioning military if there is disorder and chaos within the ranks, and that’s what these Democrats were encouraging.”
The investigation by the Pentagon of a sitting Senator is highly unusual, and represents the Trump Administration’s latest effort to to target the presidents’ political enemies, including former FBI Director James Comey and New York State Attorney General Letitia James, both of whom saw indictments against them dismissed on Monday by a federal judge.
Kelly dismissed the Pentagon’s announcement as the work of “bullies,” and asserted he has upheld his oath to the Constitution throughout his military career and “every day since I retired.”
“If this is meant to intimidate me and other members of Congress from doing our jobs and holding this administration accountable, it won’t work,” Kelly said in a statement. “I’ve given too much to this country to be silenced by bullies who care more about their own power than protecting the Constitution.”
The video featuring Kelly and his fellow senators was posted last week to social media. In it, they argued “the threats to our Constitution aren’t just coming from abroad—but from right here at home.”
Addressing service members, the video said,“You must refuse illegal orders. No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution.”
The video came as Trump has engaged in a historic reliance on federal power, the National Guard, and service members as a whole. The President has overseen bombing campaign on alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean—a campaign whose legality has been questioned by experts—and he has deployed the National Guard to Democratic-led cities including Washington D.C., Chicago, Memphis, and Los Angeles in an attempt to curb what he says is an immigration and crime crisis.
Trump ramped up his rhetoric against those Democrats speaking in the video, describing their behavior as “seditious” and “punishable by death.”
“This is really bad, and Dangerous to our Country,” Trump said of the video on Thursday. “Their words cannot be allowed to stand. SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP???”
The post ‘It Won’t Work’: Mark Kelly Pushes Back Against Pentagon Investigation Into Him appeared first on TIME.
