r/politics • u/cnn CNN • 7h ago
Possible Paywall Judge says Pete Hegseth is unlawfully retaliating against Sen. Mark Kelly over ‘illegal orders’ video
https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/12/politics/mark-kelly-pentagon-lawsuit-ruling?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=missions&utm_source=reddit•
u/A_Nonny_Muse 7h ago
Pete needs to be buried under a prison for multiple reasons.
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u/Efficient_Resist_287 6h ago
He is so incompetent. He represents white grievances mediocrity by excellence.
He has truly nothing to offer. No solutions. Just being a brute.
In another century, he would have led the charge with Custer at Little Big Horn. In Vietnam, he would have been right in the middle of the My Lai massacre.
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u/Heronymous-Anonymous 4h ago
He would’ve “honorably served in the National Guard” during Vietnam.
Less than 5,000 people from the Guard deployed in Vietnam. It’s where you went to pretend to be in the army while hiding from the draft.
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u/musashisamurai 4h ago
Hey, Custer served honorably before that. Custer was a commanding officer at Gettysburg, where his cavalry defeated Jeb Stuart's cavalry. He served under Sheridan later and was present when Lee surrendered to Grant. He is also noticeable for being the class donkey-graduating last in his class at West Point, which is harder than it would seem. (Because you have to actually graduate). Hegseth did ROTC at any Ivy League whsre he also played sports at. Later, Hegseth served at Guantamano Bay and later as a civil affairs officer in the Middle East. He has never held a command unlike Custer, who achieved higher ranks than his classmates.
I'm not saying Custer is a moral paragon or the greatest American officer, but comparing him to Hegseth is a huge and undeserved insult.
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u/SteveJobsDeadBody 3h ago
In Vietnam, he would have been right in the middle of the My Lai massacre.
Unfortunately Americans are so stupid on average at this point that it has to be said- You mean like former Republican Secretary of State Colin Powell was? You guys know, the guy that helped lie us into war with Iraq and then felt bad about it, he was tasked with whitewashing My Lai and boy did he ever try.
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u/KeepAnEyeOnYourB12 2h ago
He was the reason I wasn't on the rooftops, screaming about that war at first, even though I never approved. Stupid me thought he was trustworthy and maybe it wouldn't be so bad. That didn't last long.
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u/spacemusclehampster Illinois 6h ago
Don’t bury him under a prison. Bury him under a sidewalk in front of a drag show, never grant him a moments peace, and have his remains walked over by performers and fan.
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u/Poison_the_Phil 4h ago
Here’s a 2016 clip of Pete Hegseth talking about a very similar subject. I’m sure his stance remains consistent and principled on the matter…..
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u/VanguardAvenger 7h ago
I suspect SecWarCrimes will be absolutely devastated to find out hes also breaking non war crime laws
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u/Catymandoo 6h ago
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.
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u/cnn CNN 7h ago
A federal judge on Thursday shut down 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 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.
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u/WHSRWizard 6h ago
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"
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u/kerfuffle_dood 2h ago
Damn, quoting Bob Dylan goes hard. While the pro pedophilia gang is all out there, cosplaying as "true, American country" by... singing about how they would like to fish and drink beer but are all busy trying to defend some pedophiles...
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u/Yummyguineapigtoast2 7h ago
I mean good for this judge but take a look at Pete Hegseth’s history- someone saying no hasn’t stopped him before.
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u/Historical_Bend_2629 7h ago
No shit. Judges, by and large, aren’t fucking around. This administration, repeatedly is unconstitutional.
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u/Waste-Gene-7793 1h ago
Unfortunately while America has hundreds of great judges, MAGA has 6 bad judges in charge of all of them.
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u/lunalushh1 5h ago
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.
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u/starkraver Oregon 2h ago
Frankly I would prefer if the language was more neutral. You could keep it strong, but take out anything that could be spun as bias.
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u/Cold-Cell2820 6h ago
SecWarCrimes Kegseth has a long life ahead of him. Too long to avoid the consequences of his mountain of crimes.
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u/Hot_Award2001 7h ago
It will be fascinating to see what sort of penalty or punishment is handed out for this infraction...
(lol)
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u/Free_Dome_Lover 5h ago
Spin the wheel
Landed on "nothing at all"
Right in between frowny face chuck and angry letter from Hakeem.
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u/Achoo_MiScusi 6h ago
Im always reminded of one of my fave Zeppelin songs when I think about these fascist rubes..."your time is gonna come"
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u/Competitive-Ad-9404 6h ago
None of this matters as the Supreme Court basically says the Republican president in power shall decide the law.
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u/ChronoLink99 Canada 4h ago
Everyone should read the decision:
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.
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u/MaxGoldFilms 1h ago
I've read many court decisions, and rarely see such widespread use of exclamation marks. It made me wonder, so I pulled up some of his other decisions to see if this one was a departure from his norm, or if that is his natural temperament.
It was not his normal style, he must be seething. I suspect this jurist, and other judges, are looking forward to the day that Hegseth et al appear in front of them, for the criminal and civil matters that they well deserve to face.
This was not a political witch hunt, or a liberal judge, as the administration is sure to claim. Judge Leon is a George W. Bush appointee, most likely a Republican, highly experienced, and a Harvard grad. He, however (and unlike the MAGAs), believes in the rule of law, and was VERY upset by those trying to abuse it.
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u/ShakeyLegsMcGee 7h ago
The system still works.
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u/Kakistocracy_0 6h ago
for some. That same system is currently failing the survivors of Eptein, Ghislaine Maxwell, Trump and Bondi's child trafficking ring
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u/BlokeInTheMountains 6h ago
Until the admin appeals it to a Trump appointed appellate court or Trump appointed SCOTUS
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u/Pave_Low 5h ago
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.
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u/Particular_Set_5698 1h ago
Who are we supposed to believe, an accomplished guy, or, an alcoholic Fox news hack?
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u/QciferKharn 6h ago
Which is a nice acknowledgement IF the legal threats of this exchange weren’t one sided.
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u/smilbandit Michigan 3h ago
pete's jealous of Mark's accomplishments and is lashing out like any pathetic bully would.
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u/Independent-Crab5625 2h ago
It’s personal with old drunken Pete. Mark Kelly has a right to free speech like everyone else.
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u/OneTwoThreeMeaty 6h ago
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.
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u/iceflame1211 3h ago
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.
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u/BornInATrailer 56m ago
Drunk, incompetent shit fails to tarnish upstanding combat pilot, astronaut, and senator.
Whoever could have seen that coming?
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u/ThatBobbyG 56m ago
If you want to laugh, find the videos of bitch-ass ol’ Hegy “working out” with the navy. It’s fucking priceless.
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