Mark Kelly has lawyers ready to fight Trump's 'dangerous overreach'
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — who is infamous for broadcasting secret military meetings and military strikes — again likely accidentally released comment about ongoing litigation despite the Defense Department’s widely accepted rule not to comment on court battles.
CNN reporter Haley Britzky posted on X that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth let slip the news in a social media post targeting Sen. Mark Kelly (R-Ariz.)
“Asked about this lawsuit yesterday, a Pentagon official said that ‘as a matter of policy, the Department does not comment on ongoing litigation,’” said Britzky, who then followed that up with Hegseth’s bitter insight.
“’Captain’ Kelly knows exactly what he did, and that he will be held to account. That’s [sic] why he’s so worried and cranky,” Hegseth stated on X.
Hegseth was responding to Kelly’s X post excoriating Hegseth and announcing his lawsuit against Hegseth and the Pentagon over a move to punish him for a video Kelly released with other lawmakers reminding military members that they must not follow illegal orders.
“Now, Pete Hegseth wants our longest-serving military veterans to live with the constant threat that they could be deprived of their rank and pay years or even decades after they leave the military just because he or another Secretary of Defense doesn’t like what they’ve said,” said Kelly. “That’s not the way things work in the United States of America, and I won’t stand for it.
The Defense Department announced last week that it was taking administrative action against Kelly, a retired Navy captain and astronaut who is serving his first full term in the Senate. The action could reduce Kelly’s retirement rank and bottleneck his military pension.
The lawsuit Kelly filed in Washington asked a federal judge to block the Pentagon’s punish, however, arguing that the move is “unlawful and unconstitutional.”
“The First Amendment forbids the government and its officials from punishing disfavored expression or retaliating against protected speech,” the complaint stated. “That prohibition applies with particular force to legislators speaking on matters of public policy.”
The Defense Department declined to comment on the ongoing litigation to reporters. However, Hegseth could not help but be baited into revealing a snap, in contradiction to department policy.