A federal judge seems inclined to rule in favor of Democratic Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, who claims the Pentagon is infringing on his freedom of speech by attempting to discipline him for encouraging U.S. military personnel to disobey unlawful commands.
At Tuesday’s critical court session in Washington, DC, Senior US District Judge Richard Leon appeared concerned about the Trump administration’s proposal that he take the unusual approach of extending current exceptions to First Amendment safeguards—which apply to active military members—to include retired service members like Kelly, CNN reports.
“You’re asking me to do something the Supreme Court or the DC Circuit has never done,” Leon, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, told a Justice Department lawyer defending the Pentagon’s efforts. “That’s a bit of a stretch.”
Leon said he would likely issue a decision on Kelly’s request for a court order blocking the Pentagon’s efforts by February 11, according to the outlet.
In early January, Hegseth suggested he was backing down from his threat to court-martial Kelly and would instead seek to reduce Kelly’s retirement pay.
In mid-January, Kelly filed a lawsuit against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after he was threatened with demotion and a loss of retirement pay, accusing Hegseth of violating the First Amendment, due process, the Speech & Debate Clause, and federal laws.
Hegseth and Donald J. Trump have publicly lashed out at Kelly over a video posted in November by the Arizona lawmaker – and five other Democrats — all with a history of military service – urging service members not to obey unlawful orders. For some reason, the Trump administration wasn’t too keen on the military being told that illegal orders are unlawful.
In the future, I can’t see Hegseth doing well in the Nuremberg 2.0 trials.
