(Washington) US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Monday that the Pentagon had launched administrative proceedings against Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, after the former navy pilot and astronaut called on the military to disobey “illegal orders” from the White House.
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“Six weeks ago, Senator Mark Kelly and five other members of Congress released a reckless and seditious video that was clearly intended to undermine military discipline and order,” Pete Hegseth charged in a post on X.
In November, parliamentarians who had served in the army or the intelligence services published a video in which they told the military and intelligence agents: “You can refuse illegal orders. »
“Today, threats against our Constitution do not only come from abroad, but also from here, at home,” they denounced.
The elected officials did not explicitly cite specific orders in their video, but it was published at a time of strong criticism of the Trump administration over the legality of American strikes in the Caribbean and the Pacific against boats accused of participating in drug trafficking.
Their message angered the White House, and Donald Trump accused these elected Democrats of “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” “.
The Ministry of Defense immediately announced that it was launching an investigation against Mark Kelly, threatening him with a “recall to active service for court martial proceedings”.
In his statement Monday, Pete Hegseth said, “As a retired Navy captain who still receives a military pension, Captain Kelly knows he remains accountable to military justice.”
Faced, according to him, with “the seditious statements” of Mark Kelly, the Pentagon initiated administrative proceedings against the former pilot with a view to downgrading his rank of captain and thus his retirement pension. The secretary also announced that a “reprimand” would be placed in the captain’s military record.
The Democratic senator, a former fighter and space shuttle pilot, also reacted on »
“I would fight against this with everything I have, not for myself, but to send a message that Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump do not decide what Americans in this country can say about their government,” said the elected official, considered one of the serious candidates for the Democratic nomination for the 2028 presidential election.
