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Hegseth gets petty with move to demote Mark Kelly



Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced on Monday that Arizona Sen. Mark
Kelly would receive a demotion of his military retirement rank after Kelly and
other Democrats called on members of the military to follow the law.

Before serving as an astronaut and a senator, Kelly was a decorated naval
aviator who flew 39 combat missions during the first Gulf War. After 25 years
of service, he retired from the Navy at the rank of captain.




 



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In a post on X, Hegseth lied that Kelly and other Democrats had “released a
reckless and seditious video that was clearly intended to undermine good order
and military discipline.”

“The department has initiated retirement grade determination proceedings under
10 U.S.C. § 1370(f), with reduction in his retired grade resulting in a
corresponding reduction in retired pay,” Hegseth said, adding that a “Letter of
Censure” would be placed in Kelly’s official military file.

This political retaliation is in response to a video Kelly made alongside
other Democratic lawmakers who served in the nation’s military and intelligence
agencies. The video reminded troops that under the oath they swore before
joining the armed forces, they must disobey illegal orders—a bedrock component
of the nation’s military.

After the video was released, President Donald Trump described it as
“SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” He also wrote, “Each one of these
traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL. Their words cannot
be allowed to stand - We won’t have a Country anymore!!! An example MUST BE
SET.”

At the time the video came out, Trump and his team faced criticism for a
series of extrajudicial killings they carried out in the Caribbean Sea. Since
then, the administration has violated Venezuela’s sovereignty—without
congressional authorization—and abducted that nation’s leader, Nicolás Maduro.

The Democratic lawmakers in the video have rejected Trump’s attempt to silence
them, promising to continue advocating for the military to stay within American
law and tradition.





 



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In a December interview, Kelly said Hegseth was “not a serious person” and
noted that the defense secretary had recently been at the center of the leak of
military information via the Signal chat app—a scandal commonly known as
“Signalgate.”

A report from the Department of Defense inspector general found that Hegseth
was in violation of government policy by using his personal device while
discussing military data, and that the lives of service members were endangered
because of his actions in the scandal.

Polling has shown that the public does not agree with Hegseth/Trump’s rhetoric
about Kelly.

In a November poll from YouGov, 49% of Americans said the video was “not
treason,” including 71% of Democrats, 51% of independents, and even 28% of
Republicans. Only 25% of Americans said it amounted to treason, and not even a
majority of Republicans thought it did.



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