Mark Kelly Slams Trump and Hegseth for Having the FBI Question Him: An ‘Attempt to Intimidate’
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) slammed President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Tuesday afternoon, saying they are attempting to “intimidate him” by having the FBI interview him and five other Democratic lawmakers who urged military members to “refuse illegal orders.”
Punchbowl News journalist Andrew Desiderio reported Kelly’s office had been contacted by the FBI, soon after Fox News reported the feds were going to investigate the congress members.
“Sen. Kelly won’t be silenced by President Trump and Secretary Hegseth’s attempt to intimidate him and keep him from doing his job as a U.S. Senator,” a spokesperson for Kelly told Punchbowl.
Fox News correspondent David Spunt, during an appearance on America Reports on Tuesday afternoon, reported FBI and Justice Department officials are coordinating the interviews, and that they are expected to happen in “short order” after Thanksgiving.
Spunt also told co-host Sandra Smith that Sen. Kelly is facing potential military punishment, which was first reported on Monday.
The investigation comes after Kelly and other Democrats, in a video posted by Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) on X last week, told service members that “threats to the Constitution aren’t just coming from abroad, but right here at home.”
“You can refuse illegal orders. You must refuse illegal orders,” the lawmakers said, as they took turns reading lines in the video.
The other Democrats in the video were 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.
President Trump has been livid over the video, saying it was “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR” that is “punishable by DEATH.” He also said, in a late-night Truth Social post on November 22, that the congress members “SHOULD BE IN JAIL RIGHT NOW.”
Other members of his Administration agreed. Hegseth branded the Dems the “Seditious Six,” and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the “deranged” lawmakers were dead wrong.
“You can’t have a soldier out on the battlefield or conducting a classified order questioning whether that order is lawful or whether they should follow through,” Leavitt told Fox News on Monday. “There must be a chain of command in our military.”
She added, “They can’t identify illegal orders because there are no illegal orders.”
Sen. Slotkin, during an appearance on ABC a day earlier, admitted she was “not aware” of any illegal orders made by Trump.
Similarly, Sen. Kelly, while speaking to MS NOW’s Rachel Maddow on Monday, could not point to a specific example, but said it should be “common sense” what an illegal order is.
Watch Spunt’s report above, via Fox News.
