A federal judge on Thursday ruled that the Trump administration “trampled” on Sen. Mark Kelly’s First Amendment rights, blocking Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s efforts to punish the Arizona senator, a retired Naval officer.
“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,” U.S. District Judge Richard Leon wrote. “After all, as Bob Dylan famously said, ‘You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.’ To say the least, our retired veterans deserve more respect from their Government, and our Constitution demands they receive it!”
“Rather than trying to shrink the First Amendment liberties of retired service members, Secretary Hegseth and his fellow Defendants might reflect and be grateful for the wisdom and expertise that retired service members have brought to public discussions and debate on military matters in our Nation over the past 250 years,” Leon, a George W. Bush appointee, wrote. “If so, they will more fully appreciate why the Founding Fathers made free speech the first Amendment in the Bill of Rights!”
He added, “Hopefully this injunction will in some small way help bring about a course correction in the Defense Department’s approach to these issues.”
The Defense Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Hegseth said in January that the Pentagon was taking steps to downgrade Kelly’s military retirement rank and pay because of his “seditious statements,” referring to the video from Kelly and the other lawmakers, all of whom had previously served in the military or intelligence community.
Other than Kelly, the Democrats who appeared in the video are Reps. Jason Crow of Colorado, Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire and Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, and Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan.
In the video, the lawmakers said, “This administration is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens. Like us, you all swore an oath to protect and defend this Constitution. Right now, the threats coming to our Constitution aren’t just coming from abroad but from right here at home. Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders. You must refuse illegal orders,” they said. “No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution.”
Trump accused the six Democrats who appeared in the video of “seditious behavior” and said they were “in serious trouble.”
Kelly filed a lawsuit in January, arguing Hegseth’s actions violate Kelly’s First Amendment rights, as well as the Speech and Debate clause of the Constitution, which grants immunity to lawmakers for official acts.
In a statement posted to X on Thursday, Kelly said that the judge “made clear that Pete Hegseth violated the Constitution when he tried to punish me for something I said.”
“But this case was never just about me,” he said. “This administration was sending a message to millions of retired veterans that they, too, can be censured or demoted just for speaking out. That’s why I couldn’t let it stand.”
The Trump administration earlier this week also tried unsuccessfully to indict Kelly and the five other Democrats who appeared in the video, three sources familiar with the matter told NBC News.
Two sources familiar with the matter said that not a single grand juror found that the office of U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro had reached the probable cause threshold required to secure an indictment, meaning that they did not provide enough evidence to convince a reasonable person that a crime had been committed.
Courtney Kube and Frank Thorp V contributed.
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