Pentagon says it will investigate former US astronaut Senator Mark Kelly after viral video

In the video, Senator Mark Kelly and other Democrats reminded US service members of their duty to disobey unlawful orders. Photo / Al Drago, for The Washington Post

The Pentagon has launched an investigation into United States Senator Mark Kelly after purportedly receiving “serious allegations of misconduct” against the Democrat from Arizona.

It is an extraordinary use of authority to investigate a combat veteran and prominent critic of the Trump Administration.

The announcement today follows a video posted last week in which Kelly and five other Democratic colleagues reminded US service members of their duty to disobey unlawful orders.

They were responding to concerns within the armed forces and Congress that the Pentagon’s strikes against alleged drug smugglers around Latin America violate the laws of war.

“Their foolish screed sows doubt and confusion - which only puts our warriors in danger,” Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a social media post today, responding to the Pentagon’s initial statement announcing the probe.

Hegseth said Kelly is the only lawmaker of the six who falls under the Uniform Code of Military Justice and thus is the only one being investigated.

Neither Kelly’s office nor the Pentagon immediately responded to requests for comment.

“If this is meant to intimidate me and other members of Congress from doing our jobs and holding this Administration accountable, it won’t work,” Kelly wrote in a social media post responding to the investigation.

The Pentagon probe dramatically escalates the Trump Administration’s ongoing use of legal and public pressure against critics of its lethal counternarcotic strikes.

Last week, US President Donald Trump posted that the six members of Congress involved in the video had committed “sedition”, actions he later said were “punishable by DEATH!”

Last week, the Pentagon’s top lawyer also sent a letter to multiple committees in Congress urging them to investigate Representative Eugene Vindman (Democrat-Virginia), an outspoken critic of the Administration who served on the National Security Council during Trump’s first term.

The letter, signed by Pentagon general counsel Earl Matthews, alleges Vindman - before he was elected to Congress - possibly violated US law restricting income from foreign governments while acting as a consultant for American defence companies seeking contracts with Ukraine.

Vindman in an interview denied the allegations as a politically motivated attack.

Retired members of the armed forces - those who have served at least 20 years - remain subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, even after they leave military service because they are continuing to receive benefits and can technically be called back to duty if needed.

Earlier this year, several senior retiring officers were concerned that the Trump Administration would recall them to prosecute them under the UCMJ for past grievances.

During his first term, Trump had considered recalling retired Admiral William McRaven, the former head of US Special Operations Command, and retired General Stanley McChrystal, former commander of Joint Special Operations Command, back to active duty to face charges under the UCMJ for perceived slights.

Then-Defence Secretary Mark Esper and General Mark Milley, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, talked the President out of it, Esper wrote in a 2022 book.

Milley remains a target of the President’s ire and his security clearance and detail were stripped by Hegseth earlier this year.

- Theodoric Meyer contributed to this report.

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