Sen. Mark Kelly is condemning a failed attempt by the U.S. Department of Justice to secure a federal grand jury indictment against him and five other Democratic lawmakers.
It comes months after they released a video urging troops to refuse illegal orders.
“They tried to have us charged and thrown into jail because we said something they didn’t like,” said Kelly at a press conference in Washington D.C on Wednesday. “Folks, this is the master alarm flashing for our democracy. It is threatening the very foundation of our system—that we have a right to free speech, to lawfully speak out and protest our government without fear of retaliation.”
Kelly accused Trump of abusing power to intimidate his critics and framed the attempted indictment as a move only authoritarian leaders make.
“This is a story about how hard Donald Trump and his cronies are trying to break our system in order to silence anyone who lawfully speaks out against them,” Kelly said. “And to send a signal to every American that they better think twice before they speak out, or else they might be next.”
Reuters reports that DOJ prosecutors tried to charge Kelly and the others, who all have military or intelligence backgrounds, with violating a federal law barring interference with loyalty, morale or discipline of the U.S. armed forces.
ABC News and the New York Times reported this week that the attempted indictment was authorized by Jeanine Pirro, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.
Kelly is a retired Navy captain and called the investigation an “outrageous abuse of power.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth censured Kelly last month and is trying to demote him retroactively because of the video. Kelly is suing to block that effort. A judge is expected to issue a ruling this week.
