ASHINGTON — Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly on Monday filed a lawsuit against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, arguing that Hegseth’s censure of him last week over his inclusion in a social media video that told U.S. service members they have a right to refuse unlawful orders violated his constitutional rights.
“Pete Hegseth is coming after what I earned through my twenty-five years of military service, in violation of my rights as an American, as a retired veteran, and as a United States Senator whose job is to hold him — and this or any administration — accountable. His unconstitutional crusade against me sends a chilling message to every retired member of the military: if you speak out and say something that the President or Secretary of Defense doesn’t like, you will be censured, threatened with demotion, or even prosecuted,” Kelly said in a statement.
The senator’s lawsuit also names the Department of Defense, Secretary of the Navy John Phelan and the Department of the Navy as defendants.
Kelly alleges, among other things, that actions taken against him violate his First Amendment right to free speech, the speech and debate clause that protects lawmakers and his right to due process.
ABC News has reached out to the Department of Defense for comment.
Hegseth censured Kelly on Jan. 5 for “conduct [that] was seditious in nature,” referring to the video Kelly participated in in November alongside other Democrats who previously served in the military or in the intelligence community.
Kelly and the other five Democrats involved in the video have defended their message as being in line with the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the Constitution.
The censure will result in a reduction in rank and Kelly’s retirement pay, a process Hegseth said would take 45 days. Kelly retired as a Navy captain and receives retirement benefits for his more than 20 years of service.
In an interview with ABC News after the censure, Kelly said he still would “absolutely not” have changed his message to U.S. troops about not following illegal orders.
“Let me make this perfectly clear, though, that Gabby and I are not people that back down,” Kelly said last Tuesday during an appearance with his wife, former Rep. Gabby Giffords, on “Good Morning America.” “From anything, from any kind of fight.”
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