QUIL LAWRENCE, BYLINE: Kelly and five other Democrats with military or intelligence backgrounds made a video last November as President Trump talked about increasing the use of active-duty troops and National Guard in U.S. cities, even over the objections of state governors. The message was for those troops.
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MARK KELLY: Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders.
CHRIS DELUZIO: You must refuse illegal orders.
ELISSA SLOTKIN: No one has to carry out orders that violate the law.
CHRISSY HOULAHAN: Or our Constitution.
LAWRENCE: At the time, President Trump described the lawmakers as traitors, posting on social media that their behavior could be punishable by death.
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KAROLINE LEAVITT: You can't have a functioning military if there is disorder and chaos within the ranks. And that's what these Democrat members were encouraging.
LAWRENCE: That was White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt at a briefing in November.
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LEAVITT: I think what Senator Mark Kelly was actually trying to do was intimidate the 1.3 million active-duty service members who are currently serving in our United States Armed Forces with that video that he and his Democrat colleagues put out.
LAWRENCE: Of the six, Senator Kelly may be in the most jeopardy. Because he reached full military retirement, he's subject to the military justice system and could even be recalled to face court-martial. The Navy began to investigate that option last year, but Kelly was defiant.
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KELLY: President Trump is trying to silence me, threatening to kill me. And he sent his secretary of defense after me.
LAWRENCE: Kelly continued to speak out about the administration's deadly strikes against suspected drug boats, including the killing of shipwrecked survivors, and now the Trump administration's removal of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Yesterday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced on social media that he's initiated a formal 45-day process to reduce Kelly's rank and retirement pay in response to what he called Kelly's seditious statements and his, quote, "pattern of reckless misconduct" from June to December last year. Senator Kelly replied in a statement that the Trump administration is trying to stifle free speech and dissent among retired military officers. He called that un-American, and he said he'd fight it with everything he's got.
Quil Lawrence, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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