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United States Senator Mark Kelly has sued the Department of Defense and its secretary, Pete Hegseth, over allegations they trampled his rights to free speech by embarking on a campaign of \u201cpunitive retribution\u201d.<\/p>\n
The complaint was filed on Monday in the US district court in Washington, DC. It also names the Department of the Navy and its secretary, John Phelan, as defendants.<\/p>\n list of 3 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n \u201cI filed a lawsuit against the Secretary of Defense because there are few things as important as standing up for the rights of the very Americans who fought to defend our freedoms,\u201d Kelly, a veteran, wrote in a statement on social media.<\/p>\n Kelly\u2019s lawsuit<\/a> is the latest escalation in a feud that first erupted in November, when a group of six Democratic lawmakers \u2013 all veterans of the US armed services or its intelligence community \u2013 published a video<\/a> online reminding military members of their responsibility to \u201crefuse illegal orders\u201d.<\/p>\n Democrats framed the video as a simple reiteration of government policy: Courts have repeatedly ruled that service members do indeed have a duty to reject orders they know to violate US law or the Constitution.<\/p>\n But Republican President Donald Trump and his allies have denounced the video as \u201cseditious behaviour\u201d and called for the lawmakers to face punishment.<\/p>\n Kelly, in particular, has faced a series of actions that critics describe as an unconstitutional attack on his First Amendment right to free speech.<\/p>\n A senator from the pivotal swing state of Arizona, Kelly is one of the highest-profile lawmakers featured in November\u2019s video.<\/p>\n He is also considered a rising star in the Democratic Party and is widely speculated to be a candidate for president or vice president in the 2028 elections.<\/p>\n But before his career in politics, Kelly was a pilot in the US Navy who flew missions during the Gulf War. He retired at the rank of captain. Kelly was also selected to be an astronaut, along with his twin Scott Kelly, and they served as part of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).<\/p>\n His entry into politics came after his wife, former Representative Gabby Giffords, was shot in the head during a 2011 assassination attempt. On Monday, Kelly described the Senate as \u201ca place I never expected to find myself in\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cMy wife Gabby was always the elected official in our family,\u201d he told his Senate colleagues. \u201cIf she had never been shot in the head, she would be here in this chamber and not me. But I love this country, and I felt that I had an obligation to continue my public service in a way that I never expected.\u201d<\/p>\n Kelly\u2019s participation in the November video has placed him prominently within the Trump administration\u2019s crosshairs, and officials close to the president have taken actions to condemn his statements.<\/p>\n Shortly after the video came out, for instance, the Defense Department announced<\/a> it had opened an investigation into Kelly. It warned that the senator could face a court-martial depending on the results of the probe.<\/p>\nRecommended Stories <\/h2>\n
A focus on Kelly<\/h2>\n