Sen. Mark Kelly Facing Investigation Over 'Seditious' Video

Capitol Hill — Source: The Washington Post / Getty

In a continuing effort by MAGA loyalists to expand the Trump administration’s campaign against its political opponents, the Department of Defense has launched a “thorough review” into Arizona Democratic Senator Mark Kelly over a video released last week.

On Monday, the Department of Defense announced that it’s opening an investigation into the retired Navy captain, over a video in which Sen. Kelly and other Democrats urged members of the military and intelligence community not to comply with illegal orders from Donald Trump’s administration. Talking to X last week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called the video “despicable, reckless, and false.”

“Encouraging our warriors to ignore the orders of their Commanders undermines every aspect of ‘good order and discipline,’” Hegseth wrote. “Five of the six individuals in that video do not fall under @DeptofWar jurisdiction. However, Mark Kelly (retired Navy Commander) is still subject to UCMJ — and he knows that.”

Kelly, who appeared in the video alongside fellow Congressional veterans and intelligence officers, Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin and House Reps. Jason Crow, Maggie Goodlander, Chris Deluzio, and Chrissy Houlahan warned active service personnel that threats to constitutional order can come “from right here at home” before emphasizing that service members are empowered to reject illegal commands. Although the video did not name Trump specifically, it did take direct aim at Trump’s most recent military actions, including the controversial strikes in the Caribbean and the deployment of federal troops to U.S. cities over the objections of governors.

“This administration is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens,” the lawmakers said in the video. “Like us, you all swore an oath to protect and defend this Constitution. Right now, the threats coming to our Constitution aren’t just coming from abroad but from right here at home. Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders. You must refuse illegal orders. No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution.”

Trump’s reaction was immediate and explosive as he shared a post calling for the execution of Kelly and the other Democrats, labeling them “traitors“ and labeling the legal and moral video “seditious behavior at the highest level.”

The Pentagon quickly followed Trump’s lead, issuing a statement stating that the department had received “serious allegations of misconduct” against Kelly, adding that a review under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) was being initiated.

As noted by ABC News, all military officers who have retired after 20 years of service are able to be recalled to active duty, and if they are determined to have engaged in misconduct, they are subject to military prosecution up to and including a court-martial.

Kelly, who retired from the Navy after more than 25 years of service in 2011, seemingly falls out of the required time limit, which no longer subjects him to recall and military prosecution. The five other lawmakers in the video, though all veterans, are not retired military leaving them outside the UCMJ’s jurisdiction.

Legal experts and civil liberties advocates also strongly dispute the characterization of the group, labeling the move a “clear retaliation for something Sen. Kelly is entirely within his rights to say,” adding that the argument that the video constituted sedition “is flatly wrong.”

Sen. Kelly responded via X, noting that the social media posts from Hegseth and the Pentagon were the first time he heard of the review.

“When I was 22 years old, I commissioned as an Ensign in the United States Navy and swore an oath to the Constitution. I upheld that oath through flight school, multiple deployments on the USS Midway, 39 combat missions in Operation Desert Storm, test pilot school, four space shuttle flights at NASA, and every day since I retired — which I did after my wife Gabby was shot in the head while serving her constituents,” Kelly wrote in the statement.

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

For now, Kelly remains defiant, and the stakes remain alarmingly high as this investigation represents yet another flashpoint added to the long list of the Trump administration’s ongoing effort to weaponize federal institutions against dissent. The willingness to use military law against a sitting senator for a political message signals a dangerous erosion of longstanding norms governing civilian-military relations and the separation of powers. As the review proceeds, it adds to the continued concern that the Trump administration is using the Pentagon not as a guardian of national security, but as an instrument of personal political enforcement.

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