An increasingly desperate Pete Hegseth threatened fresh legal action against a Democratic senator for his criticism of Donald Trump’s war on Iran.
The defense secretary’s campaign against Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona was dealt a blow on Thursday, when a federal appeals court signaled that it would not support his effort to punish Kelly over a video in which he and other lawmakers told servicemembers they could refuse illegal orders.
In February, another court blocked his attempt to censure and demote the 62-year-old senator, who flew 39 combat missions over Iraq during the Gulf War before serving as a NASA astronaut.
Determined to defeat Kelly by any means necessary, Hegseth issued a new threat on X on Sunday evening in response to comments Kelly made on CBS News’ Face the Nation.
Speaking to host Margaret Brennan, Kelly said that it was “shocking how deep we have gone” into U.S. weapons stockpiles during Trump’s war on Iran.
“Because this president got our country into this without a strategic goal, without a plan, without a timeline... because of that, we’ve expended a lot of munitions. And that means the American people are less safe,” Kelly said.
Responding to a post from Brennan on X about Kelly’s claim, Hegseth wrote, “‘Captain’ Mark Kelly strikes again. Now he’s blabbing on TV (falsely & dumbly) about a *CLASSIFIED* Pentagon briefing he received. Did he violate his oath…again?” He ended his post with a note that the Pentagon’s legal counsel will review whether or not Kelly violated his oath.
Kelly was quick to respond, sharing a video of an interaction he had with Hegseth during the Pentagon chief’s appearance in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this month.
“We had this conversation in a public hearing a week ago and you said it would take “years” to replenish some of these stockpiles,” Kelly wrote.
“That’s not classified, it’s a quote from you. This war is coming at a serious cost and you and the president still haven’t explained to the American people what the goal is.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the Pentagon and Sen. Kelly’s office for comment.
The Washington Post’s military affairs reporter Dan Lamothe noted that Kelly’s comments did not reference specific munition numbers. “That’s generally where classification comes into play,” he wrote on X. “No sign of that here.”
Hegseth, 45, has been doggedly pursuing Kelly since he appeared alongside several other Democrats in a video in November reminding servicemembers and members of the intelligence community that they are allowed to refuse illegal orders.
After President Trump accused the Democrats, including Kelly, of sedition and called for them to be hanged, the Pentagon announced that Kelly was under investigation for misconduct.
Hegseth later announced that he would pursue administrative measures, including reducing Kelly’s retirement pay, in response to his participation in the video.
After a grand jury declined to indict the Democrats involved in the video in February, District Judge Richard J. Leon issued a temporary injunction against Hegseth’s attempts to censure and demote Kelly.
Responding to the ruling, Kelly said in a video, “Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth tried to silence me, and in doing so threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of retired veterans.”
“I fought back because veterans deserve the same free speech rights as any other American, and today, we won,” he continued, before noting that “this isn’t over” because “Donald Trump has never been the type of person to admit when he’s wrong.”
“I’m going to keep standing up for all Americans’ constitutional rights. I’m not gonna let this president, or anyone else, intimidate me out of it.”
