Kelly and the other lawmakers have defended their remarks made in a November 18 video message, saying they were merely stating what U.S. law requires of troops if they are given an unlawful order.
The video message was released at a time of heightened concern among Democrats, echoed privately by some current U.S. military officials, that the administration is violating the law by ordering the U.S. military to kill suspected drug traffickers in strikes on their vessels in Latin American waters.
The Pentagon has called those strikes justified because the alleged drug smugglers are considered terrorists.
However, Hegseth said Kelly's actions were "seditious in nature."
Trump also has accused Kelly and the other Democrats of sedition, saying in a social media post that the crime was punishable by death. Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, sedition and mutiny are among the most serious offenses and can be punishable by death.
"As a retired Navy Captain who is still receiving a military pension, Captain Kelly knows he is still accountable to military justice. And the Department of War - and the American people - expect justice," Hegseth said, referring to the name that the administration informally has given the Department of Defense.
A formal change of the department's name requires an act of Congress.
The censure of Kelly follows a purge at the Pentagon during Trump's second term in office of senior members of the U.S. military, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the head of the Navy and the director of the National Security Agency.
Since returning to the presidency in January 2025, Trump has sometimes called for imprisoning political adversaries.
His Justice Department has brought criminal charges against three prominent critics of the president - former FBI chief James Comey and former White House national security adviser John Bolton as well as New York state Attorney General Letitia James.

>>1472205
I keep hearing about this.
What do they mean by illegal orders? They never seem to cite specific examples.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_9066
Executive Order 9066 was a United States presidential executive order signed and issued during World War II by the Democratic United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942. "This order authorized the forced removal of all persons deemed a threat to national security from the West Coast to 'relocation centers' further inland—resulting in the incarceration of Japanese Americans."[1] Two-thirds of the 125,000 people displaced were U.S. citizens.
Would they say FDR's executive order which put Japanese in Internment camps was an illegal order? How would they suggest US soldiers refuse those orders in 1942, within 90 days of Pearl Harbor?

>>1472208
Yes it was an illegal order.

>>1472205
Here's a video of alcoholic Fox News talking head Pete Hegeseth saying unlawful orders can and should be disobeyed by military personnel
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/cZCTsNSm2xw
Of course, that was in 2016 when the President had a D next to his name so it was okay to say then

>>1472213
Being a giant hypocrite is prerequisite to joining the Trump Administration.

>>1472217
It's less about the hypocrisy and more about the United States executive branch wasting time and taxpayer money on petty personal vendettas like this that will ultimately go nowhere in court
Like the James Comey and Letitia James "indictments" that were so weak not even a grand jury would agree to consider them
Because POTUS, in addition to being a geriatric pedophile in the mid stages of dementia, is also the world's smallest man, and despite having billions of dollars, millions of shrieking retards willing to die for him, and the full weight of the United States military at his disposal, he's still a miserable old bitch and wants revenge on anyone who dares question him on anything

>>1472222
At this point the best way to prosecute the trump regime is to just extradite all the members to countries where they committed crimes against.
it has the double benefit of getting around all the immunity bullshit republicans set up and we're no longer on the hook to pay for prosecuting and jailing them.

>>1472205
Good. Fuck him and his dogwhistling bullshit.

>>1472227
Why not just vote them out?

>>1472205
>"don't do crime"
>HOW DARE YOU YOU FUCKING TRAITOR REEEEEEEEEEEEE

>>1472229
We did that already. It didn't take.
No more half measures.

>>1472230
>Now I'm not telling you that Trump did anything illegal, buuuuuut...
He's intentionally getting young E-2/3s and O-1s to ruin their careers, encouraging them to disobey orders.
>b-but they're supposed to disobey illegal orders
Which Trump hasn't given them. Sperg all you want about Venezuela, they're legit targets per LOAC.

>>1472229
>Forgetting 2020 happened
System's fucked, also it didn't help that the republicans on the supreme court declared the presidency is a king who's above the law and trump says to commit crimes for him since he'll just pardon you.
The only logical solution is to rely on other nation's justice systems that haven't been rigged.

This also has the bonus of improving diplomatic relations.

>>1472205
Homeboy is in the find out phase

>>1472233
>also it didn't help that the republicans on the supreme court declared the presidency is a king who's above the law and trump says to commit crimes for him since he'll just pardon you.
If that's the case, why hasn't Trump told me it's okay to kill you?

>>1472236
Trump doesn't talk to jeets who goon to tranny porn between shill shifts

>>1472237
hahah no seriously, why hasn't Trump given me the OK to hunt all you faggot dems down and disassemble you all piece by piece in front of your families?

I'm just asking for a friend.

Kelly's first mistake was aligning himself with anti-american communists
His second mistake was going out of his way to drum up insurgent hysteria for twitter clout
Retard did this to himself

>>1472237
No, really, you gotta tell the shill that Trump is going to announce he'll pardon Indian shills who manage to fly to America and kill Americans
Its not a joke, the Indian shill wants you to tell him why he hasn't received the order, because they want to murder actual Americans.
Isn't it funny that an Indian shill wants to kill Americans? You get the joke, right?

Didn't they do that illegal double tap strike literally a week after he said that?

>>1472232
No.

>>1472242
>illegal
Wrong.

>>1472245
sure, it was wrong too

>>1472245
Striking shipwrecked enemies is one of the explicit warcrimes. And if they weren't combatants, then striking the boat at all was a crime.

>>1472242
The word you're looking for is kino
Don't sneed just cause you don't have that perk unlocked

>>1472247
We've been over this, it wasn't shipwrecked. It was disabled. The military objective was still intact.

>>1472251
>Guys it wasn't shipwrecked, it was disabled!
>It's totally different!
>no you can't see the actual video to decide for yourself... i-its secret...

>>1472228
It is good because he's going to absolutely dominate in court over this.

>>1472251
They were clinging to a bit of debris. That's shipwrecked.

>>1472253
Like I said, keep sperging. I'm not going to waste my time with another 300 posts trying to spoonfeed you LOAC. It was a legit target. The end.

Now back to Kelly, what he's trying to do is
1) convince people in the military to disobey Trump
and
2) threaten retaliation against them if they don't.
All of this isn't being directly said, just implied. The same way Biden's administration pressured Fagbook to delete conservative posts, they didn't outright tell them to do it but heavily implied bad things would happen if they don't. That way they have plausible deniability.

Unfortunately for Kelly, he was an officer in the military and still has rules to follow even after he's out.

>>1472256
Oh you have the video then? Show me them clinging to debris and there was nothing left of the boat - that they were climbing back into.

>>1472257
>That way they have plausible deniability.
You do realize that means this doesn't hold up in court. And also, Hegseth said THE EXACT SAME THING in 2016.

>>1472260
shill is just throwing a pissbaby tantrum after getting high with their new years welfare check and getting fresh marching orders for shilposting.
You may be correct, but you're still more of a faggot than they are
Let that sink in

>>1472261
>You may be correct
What? No 50-post-long reply chain where you sealion for proof of every time in the past 20 years the US has wrongly killed a foreigner? I'm very disappointed and want my money back.

>>1472260
>You do realize that means this doesn't hold up in court.
I guess you missed the part where I said earlier that Kelly was an officer and subject to different rules. It's okay, reading is hard.

>>1472257
>>1472263

He's literally quoting the UCMJ.

>>1472264
sorry, quoting the UCMJ is fraud now
the people listening to Kelly didn't like what he said, so that makes it illegal fraud
If they liked what he said, that would have been legal fraud and perfectly okay (this is what you're pretending it is)
hope that clears things up for you

>>1472263
>It's different because I want it to be Your Honor!
This is why the Comey and James cases got laughed out of court

>>1472208
>internment camps
And yet, someone only too familiar with such has put that behind him by boldly going forward, without thoughts of vengeance. Unlike an orange thing fueled by spite.
Oh my!

>>1472242
Other way around. The double tap strike wasn't publically reported on until two months after it happened.

>>1472284
So what, the standard of whether or not the order is lawful involves mind reading?
If it is a leader you like, Barack Obama, being in charge while it comes to light (Snowden leaks), well then those orders are lawful, and Snowden should have just went up the chain of command. But if it Trump well he is fueled by spite, so his intent makes the orders unlawful

>>1472231
Why not seek reconciliation?
Progressives assumed the government had a certain set of intentions, and were happy to give more and more power to the state with that assumption in mind. They reacted to Trump not by questioning "Should this power be held by the state", rather they asked "How can we stop people like him from ever getting power again?". And if you look at what happened in 2023/2024, that is what happened.
https://www.lawfaremedia.org/projects-series/archived-projects/the-trump-trials/section-3-litigation-tracker?
There was effort to remove his name from ballots in various states
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indictments_against_Donald_Trump
They went for Lawfare, not reconciliation.
In 2023, four criminal indictments were filed against Donald Trump, then a former president of the United States. Two were on state charges (one in New York and one in Georgia) and the other two, one of which was replaced by a superseding indictment, were on federal charges (one in Florida and one in the District of Columbia).[1] Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges against him.[2][3][4][5] He was convicted in New York, but charges were dropped in the Georgia case and the two federal cases.

On the state cases:

The six-week-long New York trial lasted April 15–May 30, 2024 and resulted in the conviction of Trump on all 34 charges.[6] However, on January 10, 2025, the judge issued an unconditional discharge.[7]
On June 5, 2024, the Georgia case was paused while the Georgia Court of Appeals decided whether to disqualify Fani Willis from prosecuting it,[8][9] which it did in December.[10] On November 26, 2025, the new prosecutor, Pete Skandalakis, dropped all charges.[11]

>>1472308
>Guys why can't they just let our cult leader get away with his various crimes?

>>1472308
>Why not seek reconciliation?
The fact that you're asking this on the fifth anniversary of Trump and the right trying to overthrow the 2020 election and keep himself in power in defiance of the Constitution and the will of the American people is breathtaking

>>1472311
The 6th is tomorrow, Ramesh

>>1472314
>If I act like a pedantic faggot over a half hour difference I don't have to acknowledge Trump trying and failing to stage a coup
Follow Ashli Babbit to hell

>>1472308
Those cases were dropped in the most literal and official sense because continuing them would make a constitutional crisis happen. It's analogous to some infamous serial killer winning the election and getting out of charges on that basis. It's the same logic. Doesn't mean anything about him actually doing the crimes.

>>1472315
>the coup was real in my mind
Kwab

>>1472320
nobody here speaks pol, faggot. you can go back now

>>1472278
Do officers have different rules than civilians? Yes or no.

>>1472339
If they do then Hegseth also committed reckless misconduct in 2016. Literally all he did was repeat part of the UCMJ.

>>1472340
no, they need you to agree to their irrelevant use case because autism

I bet no one here but me knows about the U.S. Civil Flag and how it flew beside the U.S. Federal Flag until the late 70s in some places.
And I bet Trump and his evil minions would hate for Americans to know about it and what it means.

>>1472205
>>1472206
HOLY BASED I HOPE KELLY GETS SENT TO THE GALLOWS

Let that be a lesson to never ever work for these guys.

>Goofus illegally invades another country to cover up pedophilia allegations
>Gallant says that soldiers should obey the law

>>1472343
He will sue and win.

When we win 28 we’re sending Blumpf to South Sudan

>>1472340
The answer is yes, which is why
>President Donald Trump's Pentagon chief announced plans on Monday to demote U.S. Senator Mark Kelly from his rank as a retired Navy captain for alleged "reckless misconduct" after he and other Democratic lawmakers urged troops to refuse any illegal orders.

>>1472345
>says that soldiers should obey the law
While the statement is trivially correct it is subversive in its implication that illegal orders are likely to be given. But you are a partisan who would prefer illegal orders be followed in your favor.

>>1472355
Wow cool. Let him try and promptly get sued for violating 1st amendment rights.

>>1472361
>Uh yeah sir he was quoting the UCMJ
>But like, there were implications
>No he didn't actually say anything beyond quoting it
>But the implication!

>>1472373
>Wow cool. Let him try and promptly get sued for violating 1st amendment rights.
Aren't you fags always saying no right is absolute? You can't shout fire in a crowded theater? Well guess what, officers can't dogwhistle privates into treason. I don't know how many times I have to fucking explain this shit - and why even retards like you can't figure it out yet - but an officer, even retired, still has rules they have to follow or else things like this happens.

>>1472376
And how many times do you need to be told he literally just quoted the UCMJ and if this goes to court Kegseth is promptly going to be told to sit his alcoholic ass down because not only is it protected speech, but he literally did it himself too?

>>1472378
>And how many times do you need to be told he literally just quoted the UCMJ
And implied Trump was giving illegal orders so he could fuck over privates for a cheap political jab at orange man. Sure he may take it to court and win because these dems carefully tip-toed around it and made sure what they said was ambiguous enough, that doesn't change the fact that he's a dog-whistling, blue falcon faggot who doesn't mind scoring political points by sacrificing careers of young enlisted who don't know any better.

>>1472379
>Sure he may take it to court and win
lmao you're already coping.
>Uh, well even if he wins, it's still bad to quote the literal oath all of those privates have to take when joining the military!

>>1472380
Yeah keep coping how that video didn't come out specifically to undermine Trump's authority over the military. It's such a weird coincidence that they felt it necessary to do this now.

>>1472381
>Quote the oath the military has to take on enlistment
>"YOU'RE UNDERMINING TRUMPS AUTHORITY!"
I love how you keep implying Trump IS going to give unlawful orders lmao.

>>1472382
So tell me anon, why did they make a video now? They sure didn't think this was necessary when Obama was in office drone-striking American citizens without trial, or during Biden's time when he blew up a building full of kids. But when Trump is in office now they felt the need to remind troops of the thing they get briefed on at least once a year. Why is that? Try to be good-faith for once in your life, if that's even possible (probably isn't).

>>1472383
Because Trump has openly fantasized about giving unlawful orders lmao. He literally got blocked from deploying troops to Chicago by the Supreme Court on the grounds it was illegal.

>>1472383
you sure are a whiny little fascist

>>1472384
So like I said earlier, they're trying to imply that Trump is giving illegal orders and they're undermining his authority over the military by convincing naive E-3s that they don't have to follow orders. And when they fuck their careers up because they were stupid enough to listen to Kelly, that bald fuck isn't going to do a god damn thing to help them like he said he would.

But hey at least you finally admit they did this because Orange Man Bad.

>>1472386
>Guys they're gonna ruin their careers refusing to follow unlawful orders like it literally says in the UCMJ which they make their oath to
>You're only doing it because it's Trump, who has openly fantasized about unlawful orders and got blocked from deploying troops in US states unlawfully
Kelly is going to win in court and you are going to melt the fuck down.

>>1472387
>Kelly is going to win in court and you are going to melt the fuck down.
I already said he probably will because the dems made sure not to directly say what they wanted to say, and had to
>imply
everything in that shitty video. So I don't know why you're counting that as a win, but go ahead and pat yourself on the back I guess.

Sucks to be those troops but I guess this is what happens when you're dumb enough to listen to democrats.

>>1472388
>Uh yeah I got completely BTFOed and this admin is going to lose in court again, but uh, what about the hypothetical strawmen troops I just made up to get mad about?
The irony is if someone disobeys because they think an order is illegal, they probably aren't going to care about their career in a military run by this admin in the first place lmao.

>>1472389
>you said the same thing I said... durr u got BTFO
lol okay anon. If you could point to the post I made where I said Kelly wasn't going to win this in court, I'd love to see it.
>but uh, what about the hypothetical strawmen troops I just made up to get mad about?
It's not a strawman, you idiot. These are the people who will end up paying the price because of Kelly's stunt. Now I know you and Kelly don't give a fuck about them, but I'm still going to take this opportunity to point out that he has no problem ruining careers for a shitty TDS video.
>The irony is if someone disobeys because they think an order is illegal, they probably aren't going to care about their career in a military run by this admin in the first place lmao.
They're going to care a lot when they get hit with a dishonorable discharge, which I'm guessing you don't know but that has an effect on your life outside the military.

>>1472389
shills have limited options when they have to blame everything on Dems but republicunts are being so shitty
its okay though, they'll have their shot come election season, since its looking like America is gearing up to fire those retards and investigate/prosecute all the war crimes going on

>>1472390
>These are the people who will end up paying the price because of Kelly's stunt.
>They haven't yet
>BUT THEY WILL
>And I will simultaneously care so much about them now, but if they actually do disobey Trump's orders I will start screeching for them to be hanged for treason

>>1472395
>nobody has lost their career yet (that we know of) so it's okay for Kelly to undermine the authority of CinC - even though he knows he can't do that as an officer
The best part of this is you would be howling for blood if a Republican did the same thing when Obama was in office blowing up Americans.

>>1472379
>>1472386
>>1472388
>>1472390
How do you know those hypothetical disobeying troops will disobey orders because of Kelly and not from say, listening to Hegseth in 2016?

>>1472397
You already conceded he didn't undermine shit by acknowledging he will win in court. You also continue inventing strawmen in real time who you openly acknowledge don't actually exist.

>>1472397
you really got tossed around in this thread, shill anon. sheesh

>>1472399
dems ruin everything
just like how they destroyed the justice system when radical liberal judges refused to imprison the sandwich thrower because he made sure not to assault federal officers

>>1472401
That whole saga was hilarious
>Arrest that man for assault!
>Ok so the judge laughed us out of court for trying to make it a felony, but we can still get him on misdemeanor assault!
>Ok we lost again because not only was it shaky to begin with, but we got caught actively lying about several elements of the case when honestly we didn't even need to
>Whoops

>>1472251
A pissy little boat got smacked with a fucking Hellfire, there's no 'oh it's only disabled' around that.

>>1472258
>that they were climbing back into.
Per reporting, the boat was overturned. I don't know if you've ever been on the water, but there is literally not a snowball's chance in hell they were overturning that shit, speaking from experience.

Now, you're free to call the reporting a lie, but nobody has to give a single fuck what you say as long as your side is refusing to release the video.