K-File Reveals Hegseth Said the Same Thing About Not Following ‘Illegal Orders’ He’s Now Claiming is ‘Seditious’

(Photo Credit: Julia Demaree Nikhinson for AP)

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth made similar comments about troops not following “unlawful orders” that he has ripped six Democratic lawmakers for recently making, according to a CNN report on Tuesday.

Reporter Andrew Kaczynski unearthed a 2016 clip of Hegseth, when he was a Fox News contributor, where he “plainly stated there are costs for illegal actions,” as Kaczynski put it, adding it’s the same “message he now condemns Democrats for spreading.” Hegseth was being asked about soldiers being imprisoned for war crimes when he said the following:

I do think there have to be consequences for abject war crimes. If you’re doing something that is just completely unlawful and ruthless, then there is a consequence for that. That’s why the military said it won’t follow unlawful orders from their commander-in-chief. There’s a standard, there’s an ethos. There’s a belief that we are above what so many things that our enemies or others would do.

Hegseth, Kaczynski wrote, “spoke critically” of then-President Barack Obama and denounced his foreign policy decisions. He said he was optimistic there were Americans who were “willing to put their lives on the line” for the country, but that he hoped ” we get a commander-in-chief befitting of that loyalty” in the 2016 election. Hegseth’s comments were “recorded at an event hosted by the Liberty Forum of Silicon Valley,” added CNN.

The CNN report comes after Hegseth and President Donald Trump have skewered Democratic lawmakers for participating in a video posted by Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) last month, where they urged service members to follow military codes of conduct and refuse “illegal orders.” They added that “threats to the Constitution aren’t just coming from abroad, but right here at home.”

The other Democrats in the video were Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-PA), Rep. Maggie Goodlander (D-NH), Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO), and Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA). Those lawmakers served in the Navy, Army, Air Force, and Central Intelligence Agency.

“You can refuse illegal orders. You must refuse illegal orders,” the lawmakers said, as they took turns reading lines in the video.

Trump has been livid over the video, saying it was “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR” and should be “punishable by DEATH.” Hegseth also branded the lawmakers the “Seditious Six” and said Kelly could face a military court-martial.

Sen. Slotkin, during an appearance on ABC on November 23, admitted she was “not aware” of any illegal orders from Trump.

Kingsley Wilson, a spokesperson for the Pentagon, told CNN the following on Hegseth’s previous comments:

As Secretary Hegseth said last week and prior to holding office, the military already has clear procedures for handling unlawful orders. The orders being given to our military under President Trump are lawful, and the despicable video of the ‘Seditious Six’ urging our troops to defy their chain-of-command was a politically motivated influence operation by elected officials aimed at sowing distrust and chaos in our Armed Forces.

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