Name: Sen. Mark Kelly responds to investigation after illegal orders video
Uploaded: 2025-12-03T02:59:36.752Z
Duration: 5 min 48 s
Description: Facing a Pentagon probe and attacks from Trump, Sen. Mark Kelly says intimidation will not stop him from speaking out against what he calls unlawful military orders.

Facing a Pentagon probe and attacks from Trump, Sen. Mark Kelly says intimidation will not stop him from speaking out against what he calls unlawful military orders.

Washington

Senator Mark Kelly held a press briefing in Washington, DC, addressing an investigation initiated after he and Senator Slotkin released a video urging military personnel to refuse illegal orders. Kelly stated that President Trump responded by calling for the arrest and execution of lawmakers involved in the video, rather than affirming the rule of law.

Kelly referenced his family's experience with political violence and cited recent attacks on public officials. He accused President Trump of using threats and intimidation to silence critics and claimed that the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, ordered the investigation into him, which Kelly learned about via social media.

Sen. Mark Kelly responds to investigation after 'illegal orders' video

We're going to go now to a press briefing held by Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, who has been the target of the Trump administration's efforts to tame Democratic lawmakers speaking out against military actions. Let's take a listen. So throughout his entire career in business, reality TV, and politics, Donald Trump has had one and only one play, bullying his opponents into silence. He did it as a failed casino owner who bankrupted his properties and screwed over his contractors. He did it as a reality TV host known for firing people. And he's done it as president who tries every day to intimidate people with no regards for the rights or well-being of the American people. I'll say this for the guy. While he's never seemed to do much else right, for most of Donald Trump's career, bullying people has worked out for him. But not now. Because I won't let it happen. The American people won't let it happen. President Trump is trying to silence me, threatening to kill me for saying what is true. And he sent his secretary of defense after me. And it's not going to work. Here's how we got here. A week and a half ago, Senator Slotkin and I, along with others who also served in the military and the intelligence communities, we released a video with a simple message to service members that they must refuse illegal orders. Nothing was controversial about that. Everyone must follow the law. No one may break the law. This is pretty basic stuff. Seeing that video, here's how any other president would have responded. They would have said two words, of course. But that's not how this president responded. We've become so accustomed to Donald Trump's behavior that it is worth emphasizing. The president of the United States said that two U.S. senators and four members of the House of Representatives should be arrested, hanged, executed for something we said, for something that is true. My family knows the cost of political violence. My wife, Gabby, was shot in the head and nearly died while speaking with her constituents. The president should understand this, too. He has been the target of political violence himself. The speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives, Melissa Hortman, and her husband were murdered in their home this year. The governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, had his house firebombed this year. Then Charlie Kirk was assassinated at Utah Valley University, a place I visited just a few weeks ago with Republican Senator John Curtis. Faced with a wave like this, every other president we have ever had in the history of this nation would have tried to heal the country. But we all know Donald Trump. He uses every single opportunity to divide us. And that's dangerous. The president's words carry tremendous weight. People listen to him. And he knows that. And that's exactly why he does what he does. He makes these threats to silence people. And if that doesn't work, he abuses his power to intimidate people. And with the consent of Republicans in the United States Senate, he has surrounded himself with people like the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, who will do whatever he says, with no question, no matter what. Trump and Hegseth, they care more about publicity than they do about the rule of law. That's how I ended up finding out via a tweet that the Secretary of Defense was ordering an investigation into me.

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