Sen. Mark Kelly says he won’t be “bullied” into backing down after the Pentagon opened an investigation into him.
It comes two weeks after he and other Democratic lawmakers called on U.S. troops to refuse illegal orders.
Kelly says he’s standing up to President Donald Trump and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on behalf of service members.
“President Trump is trying to silence me, threatening to kill me for saying what is true,” Kelly said at a press conference Monday. “And he sent his secretary of defense after me. And it's not going to work.”
After the online video’s release last month, President Donald Trump accused Kelly and other Democratic lawmakers of sedition.
“It’s called SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL. Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL. Their words cannot be allowed to stand - We won’t have a Country anymore!!! An example MUST BE SET,” Trump posted to his social media site Truth Social.
The Pentagon also announced it would move to court-martial the former astronaut and U.S. Navy fighter pilot.
The administration has directed nearly a dozen strikes on small civilian boats off the coast of Venezuela, including one to kill survivors of a previous attack.
The Trump administration says its efforts are directed at drug smugglers.
However, legal experts and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have questioned the legality of the strikes.
Kelly says such orders put service members in a difficult position.