Pentagon suggests Mark Kelly, a former US Navy captain, may very well be court-martialled for urging navy to defy illegal orders.
The Pentagon has stated it’s investigating United States Senator Mark Kelly, a retired naval aviator and astronaut, for his participation in a video that urged navy service members to refuse “unlawful orders”.
It’s uncommon for the US navy to take motion towards a retired officer. However Monday’s announcement got here after President Donald Trump repeatedly referred to as for prison fees towards Kelly and different Democratic lawmakers concerned within the video.
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Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth stated in a while Monday that Kelly is going through a probe as a result of he’s the one lawmaker within the video who falls beneath the jurisdiction of navy legislation as a retired Navy captain.
“As was introduced, the Division is reviewing his statements and actions, which have been addressed on to all troops whereas explicitly utilizing his rank and repair affiliation – lending the looks of authority to his phrases,” Hegseth wrote on X.
“Kelly’s conduct brings discredit upon the armed forces and will probably be addressed appropriately.”
The Pentagon had advised that Kelly is accused of “actions supposed to intrude with the loyalty, morale, or good order and self-discipline of the armed forces”.
Final week, Trump described the legislators as traitors and went so far as arguing that they need to face the death penalty for sedition: in different phrases, speech that’s designed to incite a rebel.
Kelly, a former US Navy captain who now represents Arizona within the Senate, was certainly one of six former navy and intelligence officers featured within the video, launched on November 18.
“Our legal guidelines are clear. You may refuse unlawful orders,” they stated within the video.
We wish to communicate on to members of the Army and the Intelligence Group.
The American individuals want you to face up for our legal guidelines and our Structure.
Don’t surrender the ship. pic.twitter.com/N8lW0EpQ7r
— Sen. Elissa Slotkin (@SenatorSlotkin) November 18, 2025
The Pentagon careworn that beneath the Uniform Code of Army Justice (UCMJ) — which spells out navy legal guidelines and pointers — service members have a authorized obligation to “obey lawful orders and that orders are presumed to be lawful”.
“A servicemember’s private philosophy doesn’t justify or excuse the disobedience of an in any other case lawful order,” it wrote in Monday’s assertion.
The Pentagon added that Kelly may face recall “to lively obligation for court-martial proceedings or administrative measures”.
Retired navy personnel who proceed to obtain advantages after their service stay topic to navy legislation, in keeping with the UCMJ.
However it’s uncommon for navy courts to prosecute former service members, particularly for alleged offences dedicated after their tenure.
In latest days, Democrats have expressed outrage over Trump’s response to the lawmakers’ movies, which they are saying quantities to a demise menace.
“Pay attention, Trump. Your continued threats is not going to intimidate me or hold me from doing my job, which incorporates oversight of the manager department,” Kelly wrote on the social media platform X on Sunday.
“Cease the threats of execution, hanging, and sending a mob earlier than somebody will get damage. America deserves higher.”
Democrats have additionally argued that the video merely reaffirms a truth of navy legislation: Service members are required to refuse orders they know to be in violation of the US legislation, as a part of their oath to the Structure.
The controversy got here because the US continues to reel from political violence after the assassination of right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk in September and the killing of Democratic Minnesota state lawmaker Melissa Hortman in June.
Trump first invoked the demise penalty on Thursday, sparking a firestorm of criticism. “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” Trump wrote on social media.
Regardless of the outrage, Trump doubled down on his stance late on Saturday, saying in a social media put up that the legislators who launched the video “SHOULD BE IN JAIL RIGHT NOW”.
The Pentagon’s transfer on Monday alerts that federal companies, led by Trump appointees, are prepared to answer the president’s political grievances.
The Division of Justice pursued prison fees towards New York Lawyer Normal Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey in now-dismissed circumstances that critics say have been political.
Comey was charged with mendacity to Congress, whereas James was going through mortgage fraud accusations.
