Problem: Republican poll numbers are sagging a year out from the 2026 midterms. Solution: Bring phony charges against Mark Kelly, a popular swing-state Senate Democrat?
The Defense Department, following a social-media meltdown by President Donald Trump, is threatening to court-martial the Arizona senator and retired Navy captain because he appeared in a video urging members of the military and security agencies to disobey “illegal orders.” The Trump administration also sent the Federal Bureau of Investigation to interview him and five other lawmakers who appeared in the video.
The provocative video by congressional Democrats risks stirring up trouble in the military that might undermine good order and discipline. At the same time, it’s literally true that under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the duty to obey orders is limited to orders that are lawful. If a superior tells a soldier to do something blatantly illegal, the soldier is not supposed to comply.
Weren’t Republicans recently up in arms over the revelation that the Biden administration’s Justice Department had subpoenaed GOP senators’ phone records? We criticized that overreach because the executive branch needs to tread carefully before using its law enforcement powers against the legislative branch. Now Trump’s FBI is trying to interrogate members of Congress over constitutionally protected speech.
The Trump administration’s increasingly regular abuse of the law-enforcement process would be more intimidating if it wasn’t so incompetent. This week a federal judge threw out two indictmentsthe president ordered up against his foes after a shambolic performance by the Justice Department.
Any prosecution of these members of Congress would meet the same result. It would also provide fodder for Democrats in 2026. Kelly, who was on Kamala Harris’s shortlist for vice president in 2024, has already seen a fundraising spike. The veteran might even have a shot at the top of the ticket in 2028 if the president is foolish enough to drag him in front of a court-martial.
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