Arizona Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly says he has the U.S. Constitution on his side in his battle against the Trump administration.
“The American people know you can't be stifling people’s freedom of speech,” Kelly told "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart in a Jan. 5 appearance. “We have a right in our country to speak about the government, to say things about the president – they can’t take that away from us.”
Kelly, a retired NASA astronaut and U.S. Navy captain, was one of six Democratic lawmakers who drew the Trump administration’s ire by recording a video in November in which Kelly said service members “can refuse illegal orders.” Some interpreted the video as implying the Trump administration's orders were unlawful, though that was never stated directly.
Trump responded to the video on Truth Social, calling the lawmakers “traitors” and describing their conduct as "SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!"
The comments prompted the FBI to request interviews with the lawmakers, and the Pentagon announced an investigation into Kelly on Nov. 24, citing military codes and a federal law that bans interfering with the "loyalty, morale, or good order and discipline of the armed forces."
