U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered the U.S. Navy to complete by early next month a review of the Defense Department’s (DOD) complaint against Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) over his recent remarks alongside other lawmakers, calling on members of the military to disobey illegal orders, reported The Hill on Nov. 25. Hegseth referred the allegations against Kelly, a retired Navy captain, to Navy Secretary John Phelan and ordered Phelan to report back with findings by Dec. 10, according to a Nov. 25 memo that was shared by DOD.
Meanwhile, the FBI is probing the other five Democrats who appeared in the video with Kelly. “President Trump is using the FBI as a tool to intimidate and harass Members of Congress,” a group of four Democratic House members said in a Nov. 25 statement, reported AP. “Yesterday, the FBI contacted the House and Senate Sergeants at Arms requesting interviews.”
Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, one of the six Democratic lawmakers in the video, told reporters on Nov. 25 that “last night the counterterrorism division at the FBI sent a note to the members of Congress, saying they are opening what appears to be an inquiry against the six of us.” She accused President Donald Trump of “attempting to use the FBI to scare us.”
“Whether you agree with the video or don’t agree with the video, the question to me is: Is this the appropriate response for a President of the United States to go after and seek to weaponize the federal government against those he disagrees with?” Slotkin demanded to know.
The FBI has not commented and Director Kash Patel described it in an interview as an “ongoing matter” about which he could not discuss details. “What goes through my head is the same thing that goes through my head in any case: Is there a lawful predicate to open up an inquiry and investigation, or is there not? And that decision will be made by the career agents and analysts here at the FBI.”
