Sen. Mark Kelly faces Pentagon investigation for making video on refusing ‘unlawful orders’

The Pentagon on Monday said that it was reviewing what it called “serious allegations of misconduct” against Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona for making a video with five other Democratic lawmakers that urged members of the military to refuse to follow illegal orders.

The Pentagon said Kelly, who is a retired U.S. Navy captain, might be recalled to active military duty and face a possible court-martial on the allegations.

President Donald Trump last week called Kelly and the other Democrats “traitors,” and said their statements on the video were “seditious behavior at the highest level.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in a statement on X on Monday, said, “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,'” said Hegseth.

“Five of the six individuals in that video do not fall under @DeptofWar jurisdiction,” Hegseth wrote. “However, Mark Kelly (retired Navy Commander) is still subject to UCMJ — and he knows that.”

UCMJ is the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

The Pentagon, in its own social media statement, said that 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.”

“This matter will be handled in compliance with military law, ensuring due process and impartiality,” the Pentagon said.

Kelly, in a response on X, said, “Secretary Hegseth’s tweet is the first I heard of this. I also saw the President’s posts saying I should be arrested, hanged, and put to death.”

“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,” Kelly wrote.

“I’ve given too much to this country to be silenced by bullies who care more about their own power than protecting the Constitution.”

In the video, which was posted on X on Nov. 18, Kelly had said, “Our laws are clear: you can refuse illegal orders.”

The five other Democrats who underscored that same message on the video were Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, as well as House Reps. Jason Crow of Colorado, Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire, and Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan, both of Pennsylvania.

Slotkin is a former CIA analyst. Dekluzio and Goodlander are former Navy officers, and Houlahan is a former Air Force officer, but all three of them separated from those service branches rather than retired from them. Because they did not retire from those branches, they are not subject to the UCMJ, as Kelly is.

Trump, in a Truth Social post on Thursday, said, “Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL.”

“Their words cannot be allowed to stand — We won’t have a Country anymore!!! An example MUST BE SET.”

The Pentagon, in its statement Monday, said, “The Department of War reminds all individuals that military retirees remain subject to the UCMJ for applicable offenses, and federal laws such as 18 U.S.C. § 2387 prohibit actions intended to interfere with the loyalty, morale, or good order and discipline of the armed forces.”

“All servicemembers are reminded that they have a legal obligation under the UCMJ to obey lawful orders and that orders are presumed to be lawful,” the statement said.

“A servicemember’s personal philosophy does not justify or excuse the disobedience of an otherwise lawful order.”

Greg Lukianoff, CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, an advocacy group, in a statement said, “The Pentagon’s actions are clear retaliation for something Sen. Kelly is entirely within his rights to say.”

“America’s servicemembers already take an oath to uphold the Constitution, which includes not following illegal orders,” Lukianoff said. “The argument that the video’s message is sedition, or otherwise unprotected by the First Amendment, is flatly wrong.”