Sen. Mark Kelly filed a lawsuit against Pete Hegseth on Monday alleging that the Defense secretary violated his constitutional rights in retaliation for his appearance in a video telling troops they can refuse illegal orders.
“His unconstitutional crusade against me sends a chilling message to every retired member of the military: if you speak out and say something that the President or Secretary of Defense doesn’t like, you will be censured, threatened with demotion, or even prosecuted,” Kelly, a retired U.S. Navy captain, wrote in a statement.
The lawsuit states that lawmakers should “be given the widest latitude to express their views on issues of policy,” and that it’s unprecedented for a president to impose military sanctions on a member of Congress for expressing a political opinion.
The lawsuit follows months of back-and-forth between Kelly and the Trump administration after the senator appeared in a video with other lawmakers instructing members of the military and intelligence communities to refuse “illegal” orders.
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President Donald Trump called the video “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” Hegseth moved last week to punish Kelly for the video and other statements, saying that because Kelly still receives a military pension, he is subject to military law. Kelly is now in proceedings to redetermine his retirement grade and pay.
“As a retired Navy Captain who is still receiving a military pension, Captain Kelly knows he is still accountable to military justice,” Hegseth wrote on X last week. “And the Department of War — and the American people — expect justice.”
Kelly argues in the lawsuit that because he is no longer on active duty, the administration can not redetermine his retirement grade based on a political statement.
He also claims that Hegseth put the cart before the horse by publicly accusing him of “seditious statements” and “reckless misconduct” prior to an investigation, and later, sending a letter of censure that implied Kelly conclusively met the terms for a reduction in his retirement grade.
Kelly had anticipated backlash from the administration over his comments. In December, he formed the Senator Mark Kelly Legal Defense Fund to respond to investigations from the FBI and Defense Department, NOTUS reported at the time.
The Department of Justice and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Kelly’s lawsuit.
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