Senator Mark Kelly Photo by Gage Skidmore
By The Hill
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) said on Monday that his lawsuit against Defense Secretary Pete Hegeseth and the Pentagon is about more than just his specific case.
In an interview on MS NOW’s “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell,” the former Navy pilot said he’s fighting Hegseth’s effort to censure him and demote his military rank because he wants to protect other veterans’ rights to speak out freely against the government without fear of repercussion.
“This is much bigger than me,” Kelly said. “What I really worry about are the other veterans out there, you know, that don’t have a platform like I do, don’t have the right to speak on the Senate floor. Where are they going to be with this administration if they decide to speak out?”
“That’s really the reason for my action today,” the Arizona Democrat continued. “I had to file this lawsuit because I need to be standing up for all Americans, not just myself.”
Kelly filed a lawsuit Monday to push back on the Pentagon’s effort to penalize him for participating in a video with fellow Democrats with intelligence or military backgrounds in which they told servicemembers, “Our laws are clear: You can refuse illegal orders… You must refuse illegal orders.”
