CNN reports the Pentagon is now looking at reducing the military rank and pension pay of Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz) over a video he participated in that urged troops to disregard illegal orders.
“It certainly is a downshift from yesterday when they were saying a court martial was in order,” said CNN Chief National Affairs Correspondent Jeff Zeleny.
“They are losing in the independent judiciary, but inside the administration is a place where administration officials win because they control the rules,” Zeleny explained, adding the martial justice system is a “more favorable venue” for the commander-in-chief.
“It also shows that this White House is going to use institutions and agencies that have historically had independence and turn them into a means to punish political foes of the president,” noted CNN Political analyst Zolan Kanno-Youngs.
Independent Veterans of America Founder Paul Rieckhoff blasted Trump’s attack.
“What Trump wants to say is if ‘I can come after him, I can come after anyone.’” Rieckhoff said. “This is crossing the Rubicon. This is going to a space we've never gone before. The idea that you can drag him back onto active duty and threaten him with a court martial, which I don't think he has any grounds to do. But the fact that he's threatening to do it is breaking glass that's never been broken before in the modern military.”
CNN Correspondent Priscilla Alvarez pointed out that “veterans are also voters” who react harshly to authority figures going after military or government workers’ pensions. Alvarez added that Kelly is already putting out fundraising emails over the threat.
Zeleny said Kelly may be a candidate for president in 2028: “This is a fight that Kelly seems quite eager to be leaning into and not backing down at all.”