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The Department of Defense is performing a “thorough review” of “serious allegations of misconduct” against Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, a naval veteran and astronaut who joined members of Congress to urge service members to honor their oath to the Constitution.
Kelly and several other lawmakers with military backgrounds issued a video statement last week telling troops they “can and must refuse illegal orders,” emphasizing that threats to constitutional order can emerge “from within.”
President Donald Trump labeled the Democratic officials “traitors” who “SHOULD BE IN JAIL RIGHT NOW” as he raged against them in a series of Truth Social statements in the days that followed. “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!,” he wrote.
Trump also reposted several messages from Truth Social users, including a message demanding the president “HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD !!”
A statement from the Pentagon suggested the retired naval officer could be recalled to active duty “for court-martial proceedings or administrative measures.”
Trump’s Defense Department is threatening to court martial Senator Mark Kelly, a Retired Navy Captain, over a video from members of Congress warning service members against ‘illegal orders’ (Reuters)
“This matter will be handled in compliance with military law, ensuring due process and impartiality,” the Defense Department said in a statement Monday. “Further official comments will be limited, to preserve the integrity of the proceedings.”
The statement also reminded military retirees that they are subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the body of criminal law that governs members of the armed forces, including under federal statutes that “prohibit actions intended to interfere with the loyalty, morale, or good order and discipline of the armed forces.”
“Any violations will be addressed through appropriate legal channels,” according to the Pentagon.
Service members have a “legal obligation” to “obey lawful orders and that orders are presumed to be lawful,” the statement added. “A servicemember’s personal philosophy does not justify or excuse the disobedience of an otherwise lawful order.”
Kelly, a decorated fighter pilot who retired from active duty at the rank of captain, retired from both the Navy and NASA in 2011 to care for his wife Gabby Giffords, then a Democratic congresswoman who was nearly fatally shot during a constituent meeting. Kelly later ran for a U.S. Senate seat in Arizona in 2020.
The video from senators Kelly and Elissa Slotkin along with Reps. Jason Crow, Maggie Goodlander, Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan warns military personnel against “threats to our Constitution” coming “from right here at home,” an apparent reference to the Trump administration’s deployment of federalized National Guard troops into Democratic-led cities to support the president’s mass deportation agenda. Service members “can refuse illegal orders,” the message said.
The White House defended the president’s burst of statements, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt claiming that the message from members of Congress could “disrupt the chain of command.”
This is a developing story
