Federal Court Blocks Hegseth Effort To Punish Democratic Senator

A federal judge has sided with Sen. Mark Kelly to stop Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from punishing the former Navy captain for advising troops not to follow illegal orders.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, in a Thursday ruling, issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Pentagon’s effort to demote the Arizona Democrat’s rank and reduce his retirement pay.

“This Court has all it needs to conclude that Defendants have trampled on Senator Kelly’s First Amendment freedoms and threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees,” Leon wrote. “To say the least, our retired veterans deserve more respect from their Government, and our Constitution demands they receive it!”

The decision is the second legal setback this week for the Trump administration’s campaign to punish Kelly and five other Democratic lawmakers, who released a video last fall telling military personnel they don’t have to adhere to illegal orders.

The Justice Department on Tuesday failed to secure criminal charges against the six Democrats — all of whom have military or intelligence backgrounds — over the video after a grand jury in Washington rejected an indictment.

“This administration was sending a message to millions of retired veterans that they too can be censured or demoted just for speaking out,” Kelly said in a statement. “That’s why I couldn’t let it stand.”
Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-PA)
The Defense Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Pentagon launched an investigation into Kelly in November after the release of the video. At the time, Hegseth had threatened to call Kelly — a fighter pilot who served 25 years in uniform, including time as a NASA astronaut — back to active duty to face a court-martial. But the Defense Department ultimately stopped short of that, instead launching a process to demote him.

Kelly sued Hegseth and the Defense Department in January after the Pentagon chief announced the demotion proceedings. Hegseth also issued a letter of censure to Kelly for his comments, which he said were part of a “pattern of reckless misconduct.”

President Donald Trump and Hegseth have attacked the Democrats’ video remarks as “seditious.” Kelly and the other lawmakers contend the Trump administration is attempting to intimidate them for stating the law and exercising free speech.

In arguments last week, Leon, a George W. Bush appointee, appeared likely to side with Kelly’s lawyers’ arguments that punishing a sitting member of Congress for his comments would violate protections in the Constitution’s speech and debate clause as well as his First Amendment rights.

The Trump administration has also gone after the five other Democrats who appeared in the video — Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Reps. Jason Crow of Colorado, Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire and Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania. The four House Democrats are all military veterans while Slotkin served in the CIA and at the Pentagon.

Those lawmakers have said they are the subject of an FBI probe due to the video. Several of them publicly refused to cooperate with a Justice Department investigation and said they wouldn’t sit for interviews with the FBI, arguing the move amounts to political intimidation.

A federal grand jury in Washington rejected an effort by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office to charge the lawmakers, the latest extraordinary rejection of efforts to take legal action against the president’s political foes. It is unclear which charges Pirro sought to bring against the lawmakers.

Kelly and the other lawmakers did not specify in the video what orders they considered illegal. But Democrats have argued Trump is putting the military in a legal gray area with deadly strikes against suspect drug smuggling boats in Latin America and by deploying the National Guard to U.S. cities.

Several of the Democrats targeted by the administration have said they’re keeping their legal options open in response to the probe against them, including potential lawsuits.