Pete Hegseth and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly had a contentious exchange Tuesday as the Defense secretary attempted to defend controversial strikes on alleged drug boats.
Hegseth, 45, was briefing lawmakers on the Senate Armed Services Committee about the Trump administration’s strikes in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. Some have questioned the legality of the lethal actions, in particular one in early September that killed survivors of a prior strike who were clinging to boat wreckage.
After Kelly asked about the strikes, Hegseth contrasted lawful and unlawful orders, according to PunchBowl News. This was an apparent reference to how Hegseth’s Defense Department is investigating the senator for participating in a video reminding troops that they should disobey “unlawful orders.”
Kelly, a former Navy captain, interrupted Hegseth and said his question was unrelated to the department’s probe, according to the report. The exchange escalated, with Kelly, 61, eventually mentioning how Hegseth in 2016 said that Donald Trump would get himself into trouble if he ordered troops to follow illegal orders.
About the back-and-forth, Kelly told CNN: “It seems like he came there with a little bit of a speech for me, which says, again, a lot about him. Even in this closed briefing with a bunch of senators, he’s focused on this thing about me, and didn’t even want to get to my questions... I think it again shows how unserious this guy is.”
Kelly has defended the video in which he and a handful of other Democratic members of Congress participated, prompting Trump to accuse them of treason punishable by death.
“People listen to what he says, more so than anybody else in the country. He should be careful with his words, but I’m not going to be silenced here,” Kelly told MS NOW anchor Rachel Maddow last month. “I’m going to show up for work every day, support the Constitution, do my job, hold this administration accountable, hold this president accountable when he is out of line. That’s the responsibility of every U.S. Senator and every member of Congress. He’s not going to silence us.”
Shortly after the video was released, the Defense Department said it had received “serious allegations of misconduct” by Kelly, and that a “thorough review of these allegations has been initiated to determine further actions, which may recall to active duty for court-martial proceedings or administration measures.”
On Monday, Pentagon reportedly announced that it had escalated its investigation.
Kelly said after Tuesday’s classified briefing that it’s “all a bunch of bulls--t.”
“They’re going after me, a U.S. Senator, for something I said that was lawful, was the truth,” he told reporters. “It was something that Pete Hegseth said in 2016 multiple times.”
As for the Sept. 2 strike in the Caribbean that killed the two survivors, Hegseth is refusing to release the full video to the public—a notable course of action since the administration has proudly shared clips of other strikes.
“Of course we’re not going to release a top secret, full, unedited video of that to the general public,” he said.
New York Sen. Chuck Schumer was critical.
“If they can’t be transparent on this, how can you trust their transparency on all the other issues swirling about in the Caribbean?” he told reporters.
Kelly has been contacted for comment. The Pentagon declined to comment.
