Department of War launches investigation into Arizona Senator Mark Kelly
(NBC, KYMA) - The Department of War said it is reviewing "serious allegations of misconduct" against Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ).
The investigation was announced by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth in a social media post Monday.
At issue is a video Sen. Kelly made with five other Democratic lawmakers. In the video, they reminded members of the military that is their duty to refuse unlawful orders, as the U.S. Constitution spells out.
Kelly, who is a retired U.S Navy captain, said in the video, "Our laws are clear: You can refuse illegal orders."
The video prompted President Donald Trump to call the lawmakers "traitors" and referred to them as the "Seditious Six."
The statement from the Pentagon said in part, "A thorough review of these allegations has been initiated to determine further actions, which may include recall to active duty for court-martial proceedings or administrative measures."
As a retired Navy commander, Kelly is still subject to the uniform code of military justice.
In a written statement Monday, Kelly said in part, "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. I've given too much to this country to be silenced by bullies who care more about their own power than protecting the Constitution."
Kelly recently talked about the video to an NBC affiliate in Phoenix.
"Myself and my House and Senate colleagues, members who have served in the United States military and the intelligence community and really uncomfortable about some of the things that have been happening in our country. The president deploying troops to Los Angeles and Chicago. There was a recent ruling by a judge that says that deployment was not legal. We'll see what the Supreme Court ultimately says. You compile combine that with just other things the President has said previously. You go back to, you know, his first presidency, and he had had talked about shooting protesters in the legs. He asked that question of his Secretary of Defense. He's more recently said he when he spoke to to all of the military's admirals and generals and senior enlisted that he can send troops to US cities, and they can use that for training. This makes members of the military, including myself, rather uncomfortable, and we thought this was an appropriate time just to remind people what their responsibilities are to the constitution. We all swear an oath when we serve in in the military as officers or enlisted personnel, we swear an oath. And you know, the oath says that it is for an officer. It's not to the President of the United States, it's to the Constitution. And the message we wanted to get out there was, under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, a very simple message that members of the military do not have to follow illegal orders. In fact, they're required not to follow them. So reminding it's it was pretty simple reminder of what the responsibilities are under the law. And we also wanted to demonstrate to these folks who have really hard jobs that we've got their backs."
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.)
The senator appeared on CBS' Face the Nation Sunday, where moderator Margaret Brennan asked Kelly how concerned he is about his security at this point, and Kelly said:
"What the President said is very serious. I didn't think he would step over that line calling for the execution of members of Congress, and his words carry tremendous weight, more so than anybody else in the country, and he should be aware of that. And because of what he says, there is now an increased threats against us. I'm not going to get into details on my personal security, but as the husband of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, I understand what political violence is. The president should as well. Just like Gabby, somebody tried to assassinate him, and he should understand that his words...could have serious consequences."
