Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly on Monday repeatedly stated he wouldn’t be silenced by President Donald Trump and Secretary of Protection Pete Hegseth even after the Division of Protection introduced final week that it could be launching a “thorough review” of Kelly citing “severe allegations of misconduct.”
“I can’t be intimidated by this president. I’m not going to be silenced by this president or the individuals round as a result of I’ve given an excessive amount of in service to this nation to again right down to this man,” Kelly stated at a information convention Monday afternoon.
It comes after Kelly and a number of other different Democrats final month posted a video on social media the place they stated that U.S. service members might refuse unlawful orders.
Sen. Mark Kelly holds a press convention on the Capitol in Washington, D.C., Dec. 1, 2025.
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
Kelly slammed Hegseth, calling him “unqualified for this place” and saying Hegseth ought to testify regarding the boat strikes within the Caribbean Sea the place two survivors had been allegedly killed after a second strike was licensed on a ship suspected of ferrying medication in September.
The White Home confirmed that there have been survivors from an preliminary strike on the boat on Sept. 2 and that these survivors had been killed in subsequent strikes.
Kelly, a member of the Senate Armed Companies committee, stated there “must be an investigation” into the strikes following reporting from the Washington Submit that Hegseth issued a verbal order to kill survivors with a second strike. Kelly added that “if there’s anybody who must reply questions in public and underneath oath, it’s Pete Hegseth.”
“I hope what we’re listening to just isn’t … correct. I’ll say, although you realize as any individual who has sunk two ships myself, that folk within the army want to grasp, you realize, the Regulation of the Sea, the Geneva Conventions, what the regulation says. And I am involved that if there have been, actually, as reported, you realize, survivors clinging to a broken vessel, that that could possibly be, you realize, over a line. I hope it isn’t the case,” Kelly stated.
Secretary of Protection Pete Hegseth holds a press convention on the Dominican Nationwide Palace in Santo Domingo, Nov. 26, 2025.
Felix Leon/AFP by way of Getty Pictures
When requested a few Washington Submit report that Hegseth ordered the army to kill all passengers aboard the boat suspected of carrying medication, White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated Adm. Mitch Bradley, the pinnacle of the USA Particular Operations Command, made the order for the second strike.
“Adm. Bradley labored properly inside his authority and the regulation, directing the engagement to make sure the boat was destroyed and the risk to the USA of America was fully eradicated,” Leavitt stated Monday.
Requested by ABC Information whether or not the video he posted on social media telling army members that they’ll disobey unlawful orders was about strikes within the Caribbean, Kelly stated it was “not about this particular factor.”
However Kelly did say that he hopes the American individuals are given a possibility to see the authorized argument behind the strikes that lawmakers had been introduced throughout closed-door briefings.
In response to the Democrats’ video, Trump — in social media posts — referred to as them “traitors” who ought to face the dying penalty.
Kelly stated that the president’s is supposed to silence people who might need to stand as much as him.
“This is not about me and it isn’t in regards to the others in that video, they’re attempting to ship a message to retired service members, to authorities workers, the members of the army, to elected officers and to all People who’re interested by talking up, ‘You higher preserve your mouth shut, or else,'” Kelly stated.
Kelly was requested whether or not he would take part in interviews with the FBI or Protection Division if one was requested as a part of an investigation.
“I’ll observe the regulation,” he stated.
Kelly famous the wave of political violence in America, highlighting the assault towards his spouse, former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, and focused assaults towards the Trump himself. Trump, he stated, needs to be doing extra to chill tensions relatively than inflame them.
“The president’s phrases carry great weight. Folks take heed to him, and he is aware of that, and that is precisely why he does what he does,” Kelly claimed.
