The Pentagon, under Secretary Pete Hegseth, escalated its probe into Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), a retired Navy captain, from a preliminary review to a complete command investigation over “serious allegations of misconduct” related to the video that he and five other Democrat legislators released, a video that President Trump claims was seditious.
For reference, the case stems from a November 2025 video where Kelly and other Democratic lawmakers urged service members to “refuse illegal orders,” which the Trump administration labeled seditious. Kelly denounced it as an abuse of power, vowing to continue representing Arizona. The move has sparked criticism as politically motivated retaliation
Speaking about this disruptive video, the War Department explained that the investigation was motivated by “serious allegations of misconduct. Building on this point, another source at the Pentagon said, “Retired Captain Kelly is currently under investigation for serious allegations of misconduct,” adding, “Further official comments will be limited to preserve the integrity of the proceedings.”
Reacting to this serious investigation from the Pentagon, the cowardly Mark Kelly issued a hysterical, pearl-clutching response. He whined, “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.”
Building on this over-the-top screed, he doubled down. “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, Sen. Mark Kelly whined.
Concluding his comments, he vowed to “keep doing my job representing Arizona.” Additionally, he stated, “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.”
Firing back, Pete Hegseth took to X, formerly Twitter, to cut Kelly down to size. “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,'” he posted.
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Continuing his rebuke, Hegseth added, “Their foolish screed sows doubt and confusion — which only puts our warriors in danger,” … “Five of the six individuals in that video do not fall under @DeptofWar jurisdiction (one is CIA and four are former military but not ‘retired’, so they are no longer subject to UCMJ). However, Mark Kelly (retired Navy Commander) is still subject to UCMJ—and he knows that.”
Supporting the controversial senator, Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer claimed, “Trump is attempting to use the Pentagon as his personal attack dog,” … “I stand with Sen. Kelly, as should any American who doesn’t want to be ruled by a King.”
Providing much-needed context, the Department of Defence stated, “All servicemembers are reminded that they have a legal obligation under the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice) to obey lawful orders and that orders are presumed to be lawful,” … “A servicemember’s personal philosophy does not justify or excuse the disobedience of an otherwise lawful order.”
Watch the video here:
Featured image credit: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pete_Hegseth_by_Gage_Skidmore_2.jpg