By Phil Stewart
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Pentagon on Monday threatened to recall Senator Mark Kelly, a retired Navy captain, to active duty status in order to prosecute him after saying it received “serious allegations of misconduct.”
The statement did not say what charges Kelly could face if it took such an extraordinary step. Kelly’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
President Donald Trump last week accused Kelly and other Democratic lawmakers of seditious behavior for urging U.S. troops to refuse any illegal orders. Trump, in a social media post, said the crime was “punishable by DEATH!”
Kelly, in a November 18 video message directed at members of the military and intelligence community, joined five other Democratic lawmakers in urging U.S. troops to refuse illegal orders and reminding them of their oaths to the U.S. Constitution.
Democrats in Congress have been sharply critical of Trump’s military strikes on suspected drug traffickers in the southern Caribbean and the Pacific, questioning their legality. They have also raised concerns that Trump may launch a war against Venezuela.
All of the lawmakers had served in national security roles in the past, including in the U.S. military and the CIA. But only Kelly, as a retired Navy officer, was subject to potential recall to active duty service, the Pentagon said.
“The video made by the ‘Seditious Six’ was despicable, reckless, and false,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on X.
“Encouraging our warriors to ignore the orders of their Commanders undermines every aspect of ‘good order and discipline.'”
The threat to prosecute Kelly follows a purge at the Pentagon of senior members of the U.S. military, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the head of the Navy and the director of the National Security Agency.
The decision to recall and potentially prosecute Kelly could also be seen as a message to those recently dismissed officials, who have stayed silent following their removals.
The removal of Kelly would raise questions about free speech rights and about the separation of powers under the U.S. Constitution. It is also the latest example of Trump’s administration seeking punishment of those Trump sees as political opponents.
Since returning to the presidency in January, Trump has occasionally called for imprisoning adversaries and his Justice Department has targeted critics such as former federal officials John Bolton and James Comey.
In November 2021, Trump defended the chants of his supporters who called for hanging Vice President Mike Pence as they stormed the U.S. Capitol in a deadly riot on January 6 of that year.
The Pentagon cautioned that all retired service members could be subject to recall.
“All servicemembers are reminded that they have a legal obligation under the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice) to obey lawful orders and that orders are presumed to be lawful. A servicemember’s personal philosophy does not justify or excuse the disobedience of an otherwise lawful order,” the Pentagon said.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Alistair Bell)
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