The Trump 2.0 Retribution Tour Continues– He Has the Pentagon “Gunning” for U.S. Democratic Senator Mark Kelly November 25, 2025
The Dictator Donald Trump 2.0 “I am your retribution tour” continues. Apparently, nothing, even major legal defeats, can stop it. On November 24, 2025, the Trump administration suffered two big legal blows. On that date, a federal judge tossed out separate criminal charges against former F.B.I. Director James Comey as well as New York’s Attorney General Letitia James. The judge said that Trump’s appointment of the federal prosecutor in those cases was invalid. https://first.last@nytimes.com Mad attack dog Dictator Donald could care less. He is obsessed with pursuing political vendettas against his “enemies” even after the legal system repeatedly rebukes him. On that very same date, the Pentagon, led by super-Trump lap dog Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, stated it was investigating Senator Mark Kelly for “serious allegations of misconduct.” The supposed “misconduct?” Less than a week ago, Democratic Senator Kelly took part in a video that reminded U.S. troops to refuse to obey illegal orders.https://first.last@nytimes.com The New York Times aptly called the Trump-led Pentagon’s announcement an “unusual” one that is the “latest in a series of moves by this administration to seek retribution against perceived political enemies.”https://first.last@nytimes.com The NY Times also noted that normally the Justice Department is employed to investigate and punish federal wrongdoers. Now, however, the Trump administration is turning to the Pentagon to do this work. https://first.last@nytimes.com
In this video, Sen. Kelly appeared with five other Democratic lawmakers who had served in the military or intelligence community. Kelly declared, “Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders.” The five other lawmakers in this video repeated a similar message. In fact, as part of their training, troops are told that they should not follow orders that are illegal or immoral, such as intentional targeting of unarmed civilians. https://first.last@nytimes.com
The lawmakers didn’t refer to any particular order they viewed as illegal. However, Sen. Kelly and the others had earlier raised concerns about the fate of U.S. troops involved in the strikes on boats in the Caribbean. U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), who organized this video, along with the others involved, have suggested that based on his earlier statements, Donald might deploy active-duty U.S. military troops to American cities to crack down on or even shoot at protestors. https://first.last@nytimes.com
It was no surprise, whatsoever, that Dictator Donald didn’t take “kindly” to this video. During the previous week, he went super-ballistic. Dictator Donald called for these lawmakers to be punished and suggested that they be executed. On his social video site, he wrote, “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” Donald additionally shared another person’s post that stated, “HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD!!” (I really doubt that). And on November 24, 2025, Defense Secretary Hegseth chimed in on an online post with these words, “The video was despicable, reckless, and false.” Hegseth denigrated these lawmakers with the title, the “Seditious Six” and stated that they were encouraging troops to “ignore the orders of their Commanders.” Hegseth added, “Their foolish screed sows doubt and confusion–which only puts our warriors in danger.”https://first.last@nytimes.com
In wake of Dictator Donald’s vicious attacks, all six of these legislators said they had been subjected to death threats. https://first.last@nytimes.com IMHO, Trump’s tirade is another attempt to create a “chilling effect” on free speech, even speech that correctly states the law. Sen. Kelly obviously understands Trump’s attempts to threaten and silence him and his fellow legislators. On November 24, 2025, he told Trump and Company, “If this is meant to intimidate me and other members of Congress from doing our jobs and holding this administration accountable, it won’t work. I’ve given too much to this country to be silenced by bullies who care more about their own power than protecting the Constitution.” Exactly. Meet Senator Kelly.
First elected in a 2020 special election to fill the last two years of the late Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) term after his 2018 brain cancer death, Democratic U.S. Senator Mark Kelly (61) won his first full term in 2022 and is now the Grand Canyon State’s senior Senator. https://thealmanacofamericanpolitics.com, 2026, National Journal, 2025, p. 78 Sen. Kelly is a true American hero. He is a former NASA astronaut and the husband of former U.S. Democratic Representative Gabby Giffords. Before Gabby was shot in the head by a gun-wielding psycho in January 2011, she was expected to run for the Senate. Although she miraculously survived, Gabby had to retire from Congress and undergo extensive rehabilitation. Instead, her spouse Mark Kelly ended up running for the Senate from Arizona. https://thealmanacofamericanpolitics.com, 2026, National Journal, 2025, p.78
A native of Orange, New Jersey, and an identical twin, Kelly was the son of two police officers, Mark Kelly earned a Bachelors’s, a B.S. in marine engineering from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, and a Master’s, an M.S. in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Postgraduate School before he started his career in aviation. He had two deployments on the USS Midway in the first Gulf War and additionally flew 39 combat missions during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. https://thealmanacofamericanpolitics.com, 2026, National Journal, 2025, p. 79 In 1996, Mark Kelly was selected to be an astronaut. He flew four missions as a senior pilot and spent over 540 days in space. Scott Kelly, his identical twin brother, was also a naval aviator and an astronaut on space shuttle missions.https://thealmanacofamericanpolitics.com, 2026, National Journal, 2025, p. 79.
Mark Kelly left NASA and retired from the Navy in 2011 to care for his wife Gabby full-time during her grueling recovery from the bullet-inflicted brain damage. Kelly, along with Gabby Giffords, became outspoken advocates for gun control. In 2013, Kelly and Gabby Giffords launched an organization called the Americans for Responsible Solutions, which along with a super PAC strongly advocated for gun control. In 2016, this organization merged with the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence to create the Giffords Law Center, which fought for stronger gun laws, held the gun lobby accountable, and supported candidates who stood for safer schools and communities. https://thealmanacofamericanpolitics.com, 2026, National Journal, 2025, p.79
In 2020, Mark Kelly first defeated GOPer Martha McSally who was appointed by the state’s GOP Gov. to replace John McCain. Kelly then had to quickly run again in 2022 for a full term of his own. Kelly defeated McSally 51%-49% and in 2022 defeated GOPer Blake Masters 51%-47%. Masters was financed by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel. However, Masters’ past writings in which he favorably quoted Nazi leaders, said U.S. involvement in WWII was unnecessary, and favorably quoted the Unabomber hurt him in the general election against Kelly. https://thealmanacofamericanpolitics.com, 2026, National Journal, 2025 pp. 78-79 By winning these successive battleground races, Kelly proved he had strong popularity. He was also a prolific fundraiser, and despite being new to politics, showed his ability to have a moderate image in this “purple” state.https://thealmanacofamericanpolitics.com, 2026, National Journal, 2025 pp.76-80. Although Biden won AZ in 2020 by just 10, 457 votes, in 2024, Trump won here by 5 points, 52%-47%. https://thealmanacofamericanpolitics.com, 2026, National Journal, 2025, p. 73
In the Senate, besides supporting gun control, Kelly has supported climate change, but he does not favor the more leftist “Green New Deal” legislation. Kelly also has received funding from Exxon Mobil lobbyists and in 2022 voted for the expansion of oil drilling because of rising gas prices. He was one of three Senate Democrats to vote to confirm GOPer Lee Zeldin as Trump’s EPA Administrator.https://en.wikipedia.org/ In a state bordering Mexico where voters feel that immigration creates a border crisis, Sen. Kelly stated that the U.S. had to make progress on securing the border, but doing it in a way that “does not demonize people.” Still, he has a generally liberal record. In 2024, he received a 100% score from the League of Conservation Voters and in 2023, an 85% rating from the liberal ADA, Americans for Democratic Action, and a perfect rating from labor’s AFL-CIO. He is pro-choice as well. https://en.wikipedia.org/, https://thealmanacofamericanpolitics.com, 2026, National Journal, 2025, p.78 He voted to convict Donald for the January 6, 2021 riot and strongly dislikes him.https://en.wikipedia.org/ You get the idea.
Frankly, as Charlie Swift, a former lawyer and retired U.S. Navy lieutenant commander stated, Kelly’s video statement telling troops to not follow illegal orders is “a true statement of the law.” Swift also said that Kelly’s comments are probably also protected by the speech and debate clause that protects members of Congress from prosecution.https://first.last@nytimes.com
According to Swift, Sec. Hegseth’s additional threat to recall and punish a retired naval officer like Kelly by recalling him to active duty long after retirement is without precedent . Swift stated that retired officers are typically recalled for crimes committed only while they were serving on active duty. And military historian Eliot A. Cohen who worked for W Bush stated it was unlikely Hegseth could prosecute Kelly. In Cohen’s words, “I have no idea what they could court-martial him for.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) rightly complained that Trump was “attempting to use the Pentagon as his personal attack dog.” https://first.last@nytimes.com
Dictator Donald is, once again, with his improper use of the Pentagon to punish his “enemies,” trying to destroy a key guardrail of our democracy. All of us must rally behind Sen. Kelly, Sen. Whitehouse, and all the other Democrats fighting to stop Dictator Donald’s excesses.
