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The Defense Department is conducting a “thorough review” of “serious allegations of misconduct” against Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, a Navy veteran and astronaut. members of congress joined request service members Honor your oath to the Constitution.
Kelly and several other lawmakers with military backgrounds issued a video statement last week telling troops that they “can and should refuse illegal orders,” emphasizing that threats to constitutional order could emerge “right here at home.”
President Donald Trump Labeled the Democratic officials as “traitors” who “should be in jail right now” as he vented anger against them in a series of Truth Social statements in the days that followed. He wrote, “Treasonous behaviour, punishable by death!”
Trump also reposted several messages from Truth Social users, including one that demanded the President “hang him” with comments such as “George Washington will!!”
A Pentagon statement suggested the retired Navy officer could be recalled to active duty “subject to court-martial proceedings or administrative measures.”
“This matter will be handled in compliance with military law while ensuring due process and fairness,” 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 federal statutes that prohibit “acts intended to interfere with the loyalty, morale or good order and discipline of the armed forces.”
According to the Pentagon, “Any violations will be addressed through appropriate legal channels.”
The statement said service members have a “legal obligation” to “follow lawful orders” and that the orders are considered lawful. “A service member’s personal philosophy does not justify or excuse disobedience of an otherwise lawful order.”
The extraordinary effort to prosecute a sitting member of Congress in a military tribunal while Kelly serves in the Senate may be logistically and legally impossible.
Kelly, a decorated fighter pilot, retired from active duty at the rank of captain from both the Navy and NASA in 2011 to care for his wife, Gabby Giffords, then a Democratic congressman who was nearly shot during a constituent meeting. Kelly later ran for the US Senate seat in Arizona in 2020.
“When I was 22 years old, I commissioned as an Ensign in the United States Navy and took the oath of office to the Constitution, which I only learned of through the Pentagon’s post on X,” Kelly said in a statement in response to the Trump administration’s latest threats.
“I kept that oath through flight school, multiple deployments USS Midway39 combat missions in Operation Desert Storm, test pilot school, four space shuttle flights at NASA, and every day since I retired – which I did when my wife Gabby was shot in the head while serving her constituents,” he said.
“In combat, I had a missile explode next to my jet and flew through anti-aircraft fire to drop bombs on enemy targets. At NASA, I launched a rocket, commanded the space shuttle, and was part of the recovery mission that brought home the bodies of my astronaut classmates who had died ColombiaI did all this in the service of this country I love and that has given me so much,” the senator wrote,
“The administration’s efforts to intimidate him and other members of Congress will not work,” he said.
Kelly said, “I have given too much for this country to be silenced by thugs who care more about their own power than protecting the Constitution.”
video from senators Kelly and Elissa Slotkin joined with Representatives Jason Crow, Maggie Goodlander, Chris DeLuzio and Chrissy Houlahan to warn military personnel against “threats to our Constitution” coming “from right here at home,” an apparent reference to the Trump administration’s deployment of federal National Guard troops to Democratic-led cities to support the president’s mass deportation agenda. Service members can “reject invalid orders,” the message said.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth labeled the members of Congress the “Traitorous Six” for their “disgusting, reckless and false” video statement.
“Their foolish attitude creates doubt and confusion – which only puts our warriors at risk,” he wrote in a Monday post on Twitter.
Former CIA analyst Slotkin and other veterans of the group are no longer subject to the same military justice code, Hegseth said, but Kelly is, “and he knows it.”
“As announced, the Department is reviewing his statements and actions, which were clearly addressed directly to all soldiers using their rank and service affiliation – giving his words the appearance of authority,” he wrote. “Kelly’s conduct brings disrepute to the armed forces and will be addressed appropriately.”
Shortly after last week’s video, Trump said the lawmakers “should be arrested and prosecuted.”
“His words cannot be allowed to stand,” he wrote on Truth Social. “We will no longer have a country!!! An example must be set.”
The White House defended the President’s statements, with Press Secretary Carolyn Leavitt claiming that messages to members of Congress could “disrupt the chain of command.”
“The sanctity of our military rests on the chain of command, and if the chain of command is broken, it can lead to casualties. It can lead to chaos,” Leavitt said Thursday.
“Lawmakers abused their offices to signal to the people who serve under this commander-in-chief, Donald Trump, that you can disregard him,” he said.
“It’s a very dangerous message, a message, and it’s probably punishable by law,” he said.
Trump later said he was “not making death threats” but said the lawmakers were “in grave trouble.”
“In the old days, it was death,” he told Fox News personality Brian Kilmeade. “That was treasonous behaviour.”
Kelly and other members of Congress They have accused the president of trying to prevent them from speaking out against his administration by using the power of the White House and threatening violence to crush dissent.
Kelly told CBS, “I think it’s really important for people to understand … in the message he sent a few days ago, he announced that loyalty to the Constitution is now punishable by death. These are serious words from the President of the United States.” face the nation sunday.
Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego, Kelly’s Arizona counterpart and a Marine veteran, told Hegseth: “You and your investigation are nonsense.”
Representative Jamie Raskin, the top Democratic member of the House Judiciary Committee, who taught constitutional law at American University’s Washington College of Law for decades before entering politics, told Independent A text message said any attempt to prosecute Kelly under Article 88 would violate provisions of the Constitution that grant legislators broad immunity from prosecution over actions unrelated to their duties in office.
Andrew Feinberg contributed reporting from Washington, DC