Der Richter sagt, Pete Hegseth übt rechtswidrige Vergeltungsmaßnahmen gegen Senator Mark Kelly wegen eines Videos mit „illegalen Befehlen“.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/12/politics/mark-kelly-pentagon-lawsuit-ruling?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=missions&utm_source=reddit
45 Kommentare
[A federal judge on Thursday shut down](https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/12/politics/mark-kelly-pentagon-lawsuit-ruling?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=missions&utm_source=reddit) Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s attempts to punish Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly over his urging of US service members to refuse illegal orders, ruling that the Pentagon chief’s actions were unconstitutionally retaliatory.
The decision landed two days after a grand jury in Washington, DC, declined to approve charges sought by federal prosecutors against the Arizona senator and several other Democratic lawmakers who taped a video last year warning that “threats to our Constitution” are coming “from right here at home,” and repeatedly implored service members and the intelligence community to “refuse illegal orders.”
Together, the grand jury declination and ruling from senior US District Judge Richard Leon represent major impediments to efforts by aides of President Donald Trump to use the levers of government to punish Kelly, a retired Navy captain and former astronaut, over his participation in the video.
Leon, an appointee of former President George W. Bush,[ wrote in a scathing, 29-page ruling](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26953150-order-in-mark-kelly-case/) that Hegseth was trampling over the First Amendment rights of Kelly and that his moves are an impermissible form of government retaliation.
“That Senator Kelly may be an ‘unusually staunch individual’ does not minimize his entitlement to be free from reprisal for exercising his First Amendment rights,” Leon wrote. “Senator Kelly was reprimanded for exercising his First Amendment right to speak on matters of public concern.”
*This story is breaking.*
Pete needs to be buried under a prison for multiple reasons.
It will be fascinating to see what sort of penalty or punishment is handed out for this infraction…
(lol)
The system still works.
No shit. Judges, by and large, aren’t fucking around. This administration, repeatedly is unconstitutional.
I suspect SecWarCrimes will be absolutely devastated to find out hes also breaking non war crime laws
I mean good for this judge but take a look at Pete Hegseth’s history- someone saying no hasn’t stopped him before.
Im always reminded of one of my fave Zeppelin songs when I think about these fascist rubes…“your time is gonna come“
SecWarCrimes Kegseth has a long life ahead of him. Too long to avoid the consequences of his mountain of crimes.
Mark Kelly is a credit to his service, his seniority and his nation. Hegseth is a jumped up TV dinner nobody. Clearly, jealousy is strong with this one.
Which is a nice acknowledgement IF the legal threats of this exchange weren’t one sided.
None of this matters as the Supreme Court basically says the Republican president in power shall decide the law.
We can all see it plainly, yes.
So hold him accountable for breaking the fucking law!
Some juicy soundbites from the ruling:
„Unfortunately for SecretaryHegseth, no court has ever extended those principles to retired servicemembers, much lessa retired servicemember serving in Congress and exercising oversight responsibility overthe military. This Court will not be the first to do so!“
„This Court has all it needs to conclude that Defendants have trampled on Senator Kelly’s First Amendment freedoms and threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees. After all, as Bo bDylan famously said, „You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.“
„Defendants respond that Senator Kelly is seeking to exempt himself from the rules of military justice that Congress has expressly made applicable to retired service members. Horsefeathers!
„Rather than trying to shrink the First Amendment liberties of retired servicemembers, Secretary Hegseth and his fellow Defendants might reflect and be grateful for the wisdom and expertise that retired servicemembers have brought to public discussions and debate on military matters in our Nation over the past 250 years. If so, they will more fully appreciate why the Founding Fathers made free speech the first Amendment in the Bill of Rights! Hopefully this injunction will in some small way help bring about a course correction in the Defense Department’s approach to these issues“
Does it even matter what the judge says?
The national deficit will continue to skyrocket and my dollars get swilled down by all Trumpian inner-circle MAGAts who appeal their way to the Supreme Court.
Wake up America. This is the billionaires plan to “flood the zone” and bog down the court systems
so they can achieve their end goals.
Just saying follow the law is grounds for a reduction in rank
Well no shit…
If a federal judge is stepping in with that language, it’s a pretty strong signal that there’s a real question about whether official power is being used to punish dissent rather than uphold the law – and that matters far beyond this one case.
Cool. Put him in jail.
Suck it Pete
I hope Mark Kelly sues the DOW for $10B
And once again nothing will be done about it
Imagine being a veteran and receiving an autonomously generated letter in the email one day revoking your pension and giving you a dishonorable discharge because a ChatGPT bot created by an Elon Musk disciple at the Pentagon scanned you entire social media history and found something the current administration didn’t like.
That’s where we’re headed folks.
… and nothing will happen.
Finally some accountability in this mess
Sounds like the judge just handed down some karmic payback
Unlawful used to result in consequences!
No shit.
Everyone should read the decision:
[https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.288365/gov.uscourts.dcd.288365.37.0_4.pdf](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.288365/gov.uscourts.dcd.288365.37.0_4.pdf)
It’s a quick and easy read, not to mention enlightening.
I’m a scientist, and I really want Mark to be president. I appreciate the administration allowing the Senator to show his mettle.
When are we going to do something about these blatant violations of the law
pete’s jealous of Mark’s accomplishments and is lashing out like any pathetic bully would.
Remember: Trump administration tried to get SITTING CONGRESSMEN indicted on treason, punishable By death. He’s already posted on social media that they should be put to death. This is the same DOJ redacting Trump’s friends from the Epstein files while doxxing the victims.
Wake the fuck up America, if you’re even still able.
About time someone called out the petty revenge games in DC
It’s personal with old drunken Pete. Mark Kelly has a right to free speech like everyone else.
ie Broke the law
Who are we supposed to believe, an accomplished guy, or, an alcoholic Fox news hack?
Hegseth is a worldwide Disaster
Drunk, incompetent shit fails to tarnish upstanding combat pilot, astronaut, and senator.
Whoever could have seen that coming?
If you want to laugh, find the videos of bitch-ass ol’ Hegy “working out” with the navy. It’s fucking priceless.
Kelly should sue Hegseth for $10 billion
No shit
Of course he is.
It’s not a crime to tell people not to commit a crime.
Imagine getting punished for telling people not to do crimes