‘Extraordinary Abuse of Power’: Mark Kelly Rebukes Hegseth Probe Over Illegal Orders Video

US Sen. Mark Kelly on Monday emphasized that comments he made in a video last month referred to principles that "every service member is taught" in the US military, when he responded to the news that the Pentagon was ramping up its investigation into the video and could take legal action against him.

The video in question was recorded with Kelly (D-Ariz.) and five other Democratic lawmakers who formerly served in the military and in national security, and the message was straightforward: As stated in the Uniform Code of Military Justice, active-duty service members must refuse to follow illegal orders.

But after eliciting threats of violence directly from President Donald Trump, that statement on Monday led the Pentagon to announce that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was "escalating" a review he previously opened into Kelly's conduct.

The probe was previously classified as a "review," but on Monday Hegseth launched an "official Command Investigation" involving the Pentagon general counsel's office.

The Washington Post called the investigation an "unprecedented use of the military justice system to investigate a political adversary."

In a video posted on social media, Kelly condemned the latest threat from the Department of Defense (DOD) as a "sham investigation."

"Now they are threatening everything I fought for and served for over 25 years in the US Navy, all because I repeated something every service member is taught," said Kelly. "It should send a shiver down the spine of every patriotic American that this president and secretary of defense would so corruptly abuse their power to come after me or anyone this way."

All six Democrats who took part in the video last month—who also included Sen. Elissa Slotkin (Mich.) and Reps. Chris Deluzio (Penn.), Maggie Goodlander (NH), Chrissy Houlahan (Md.), and Jason Crow (Colo.)—have been threatened by the White House since it was released. The president accused them of "SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!" and the FBI contacted the lawmakers for interviews.

But as the only retired military officer among them, Kelly is still subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice and can be recalled to active duty, making him a particular target of Hegseth and Trump.

The lawmakers said they were driven to record the video after service members asked them about the legality of some of Trump's recent actions.

It was released several weeks into a military operation that legal experts have called a campaign of "extrajudicial killings," with Hegseth directing strikes on at least 25 boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific and killing at least 95 people as of Tuesday. The White House has not publicly released evidence of its central claim that the boats are involved in drug trafficking.

Days after the video was posted online, NBC News reported that in August, a senior judge advocate general had raised concerns about the impending boat bombings, warning they could open service members up to legal liability.

Legal experts have warned that bombing boats suspected of ferrying drugs—rather than intercepting them and taking the passengers to court over this alleged crime—is illegal even if the vessels are involved in drug trafficking. Shortly after the video was released, alarm was further raised over the operation when it was reported that the military had killed survivors of an initial blast in the first boat strike on September 2.

Concerns over service members carrying out illegal orders were also raised at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing last week, when Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) asked, "If Trump is using [terrorist designations] to use military force on any individuals he chooses—without verified evidence or legal authorization—what’s stopping him from designating anyone within our own borders in a similar fashion and conducting lethal, militarized attacks against them?”

General Gregory M. Guillot, commander of the US Northern Command, also told Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) at the hearing that he would execute an order to carry out an attack on a group the president has declared a domestic terror organization is the order was deemed "lawful."

Legal experts have denied that Kelly and the other lawmakers who warned service members against carrying out illegal orders.

On Monday, Kelly's attorney, Paul Fishman, told the Pentagon in a letter that any legal action against the senator taken by the DOD would be "unconstitutional and an extraordinary abuse of power.”

“If the executive branch were to move forward in any forum—criminal, disciplinary, or administrative—we will take all appropriate legal action on Sen. Kelly’s behalf," said Fishman, "to halt the administration’s unprecedented and dangerous overreach."