The US Navy has submitted its recommendations on potential punishments for Democratic Senator Mark Kelly over his participation in a video reminding US troops that they have a duty to refuse illegal orders, a Pentagon official told CNN on Thursday.
Those recommendations have been submitted to the Pentagon’s Office of the Attorney General “where they are providing legal review and input,” the official said.
CNN has reached out to Kelly’s office for comment. It was not immediately clear what recommendations were included in the report.
Late last month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sought advice from the Secretary of the Navy, who oversees the military branch in which Kelly served for more than two decades, on how to proceed to potentially punish Kelly for participating in the video, which Hegseth claimed amounted to a serious violation of the military’s code of justice.
“I am referring this, and any other related matter, for your review, consideration and disposition as you deem appropriate,” Hegseth wrote in a memo to the secretary of the Navy, dated Nov. 25.
In the video that prompted the Trump administration’s calls for consequences, six Democratic lawmakers said that “threats to our Constitution” are coming “from here at home,” and repeatedly urged the military and intelligence community to “reject illegal orders.”
Although the video did not refer to what potentially illegal orders service members may receive, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have repeatedly raised concerns about the legality of U.S. military strikes against suspected drug boats in the Caribbean and the deployment of the U.S. military to cities over governors’ protest.
The Trump administration argued that by emphasizing the legal duty of service members to disobey illegal orders, Kelly and other Democratic lawmakers were inciting troops to disobey lawful orders. President Donald Trump called the video “seditious behavior at the highest level.”
Kelly’s involvement in the video is under “review” by the Pentagon, rather than subject to a formal investigation, which means the military police are not involved, a source familiar with Hegseth’s thinking previously told CNN.
Behind closed doors, Hegseth has been weighing his options for punishing Kelly for participating in the video, which range from reducing the retired US Navy captain’s rank and pension to prosecution under military law, CNN reported.
In his various public messages, Hegseth suggested that Kelly’s comments violated several statutes of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which sets legal requirements for those in the military.
In Kelly, Hegseth sees a critic worth making an example of, and he could technically use the military justice system to do so, said the source familiar with Hegseth’s thinking. Unlike the five other Democrats featured in the video, Kelly is a military retiree — meaning he served long enough to receive a pension, and therefore, still owes the UCMJ, including its restrictions on free speech, legal experts told CNN.
Kelly could be recalled for active duty and court-martialed because of that status, but to do so over his role in the video would be extraordinary, legal experts said. This is because not only has the UCMJ been used the most in recent years to prosecute service members who commit crimes outside US civilian jurisdiction, but also because Kelly is a US senator.
For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com