The Department of War (DOW) is escalating its review of Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), a retired Navy captain, to an official command investigation into his participation in a video dubbed “seditious” by President Donald Trump and War Secretary Pete Hegseth.
DOW officials announced the preliminary review on November 24 in response to a video he published with fellow Democrat lawmakers calling on military service members and intelligence officials to “refuse illegal orders” from the Trump administration.
Hegseth called the video “despicable, reckless, and false,” calling Kelly, Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), and Reps. Chris Deluzio (D-PA), Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), Maggie Goodlander (D-NH), and Jason Crow (D-CO) the “Seditious Six” in a social media post:
While four of the other participants in the video are former military, Hegseth explained that they are not “retired” so they “are no longer subject” to the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).
The video made by the “Seditious Six” was despicable, reckless, and false. Encouraging our warriors to ignore the orders of their Commanders undermines every aspect of “good order and discipline.” Their foolish screed sows doubt and confusion, which only puts our warriors in danger.
“However, Mark Kelly (retired Navy Commander) is still subject to UCMJ — and he knows that,” the secretary stated. “As was announced, the Department is reviewing his statements and actions, which were addressed directly to all troops while explicitly using his rank and service affiliation — lending the appearance of authority to his words. Kelly’s conduct brings discredit upon the armed forces and will be addressed appropriately.”
The investigation could result in further actions, including recalling Kelly to active duty status to initiate “court-martial proceedings or administrative measures,” the DOW said.
A DOW official confirmed that the probe has been escalated in a Monday evening statement to Breitbart News:
The Office of the Secretary of War, in conjunction with the Department of War’s Office of the General Counsel, is escalating the preliminary review of Captain Mark Kelly, USN (Ret.), to an official Command Investigation. Retired Captain Kelly is currently under investigation for serious allegations of misconduct. Further official comments will be limited to preserve the integrity of the proceedings.
Command investigations are conducted in various situations, with Crisp and Associates Military Law explaining that they can take place when there are allegations of “misconduct, breaches of discipline, or criminal activities within the command.”
Kelly responded to the escalation in a Monday night statement obtained by Fox News’s Chad Pergram:
It should send a shiver down the spine of every patriotic American that the president and secretary of defense would abuse their power to come after me or anyone this way.
It wasn’t enough for Donald Trump to say I should be hanged. It wasn’t enough for Pete Hegseth to threaten me with a court martial. Now they are threatening everything I fought and served for across twenty-five years in the U.S. Navy—all because I repeated something every service member is taught.
The United States has the most professional military in the world—I trust their integrity. What I don’t trust is Pete Hegseth, a recklessly unqualified secretary of defense who has already shown he will corrupt any process to make an example out of me and send a message to every veteran and every American that they shouldn’t speak out.
If Trump and Hegseth think this will stop me from doing what I’ve done every day of my adult life—fighting for this country—then they’ve got the wrong guy. Tomorrow, and the next day, I will keep doing my job representing Arizona.
Trump posted several messages on Truth Social about the controversial video, at one point saying the “seditious behavior” is “punishable by DEATH!” He also reposted other people’s comments on the topic, including one that read, “Hang them George Washington would.”
He later clarified in a radio interview with Fox News’s Brian Kilmeade that he was not threatening to kill the Democrat lawmakers.
“I’m not threatening them, but I think they’re in serious trouble. I would say they’re in serious trouble. I’m not threatening death, but I think they’re in serious trouble. In the old days, it was death,” he said.
Kelly’s attorney, Paul J. Fishman of Arnold & Porter law firm, publicly shared a letter he sent to Secretary of the Navy John Phelan earlier in the day, prior to the escalation:
“To be clear: there is no legitimate basis for any type of proceeding against Senator Kelly, and any such effort would be unconstitutional and an extraordinary abuse of power,” he said. “If the Executive Branch were to move forward in any forum—criminal, disciplinary, or administrative—we will take all appropriate legal action on Senator Kelly’s behalf to halt the Administration’s unprecedented and dangerous overreach.”
Olivia Rondeau is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in Washington, DC. Find her on X/Twitter and Instagram.
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