Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) is doubling down on his controversial campaign urging active-duty troops to refuse orders he deems “illegal,” escalating the rhetoric by accusing President Donald Trump’s War Secretary Pete Hegseth of committing “war crimes.”
Kelly made the charge during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” where he cited a Washington Post story that relied entirely on anonymous sources to allege that Hegseth issued a “no survivors” directive during a September 2 missile strike on a Venezuelan-flagged vessel suspected of drug trafficking.
According to the Post, unnamed “legal analysts” described the alleged follow-up strike as a potential “textbook war crime” and “extrajudicial killing.”
The report notably mirrors the infamous 2020 letter from 51 former intelligence officials who falsely claimed the Hunter Biden laptop story was “Russian disinformation.”
Hegseth flatly rejected the report as “fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory.”
The War Secretary emphasized that American forces are conducting lawful operations to stop narcotics traffickers who have been flooding the U.S. with deadly drugs.
But Kelly, who recently appeared in a video where six Democrat lawmakers urged service members to disobey orders from the Trump administration, seized on the anonymously sourced claims to escalate his attacks.
“I’m a Navy veteran,” Kelly told host Kristen Welker.
“I served for over 25 years, flew combat missions in the Gulf War, and I commanded space shuttle missions.
“I took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution, and that’s exactly what this video is about.
“We’re reminding our men and women in uniform and in the intelligence community that they also took that same oath.
“If they receive an order that they believe is illegal or unconstitutional, they have a duty to refuse it.”
When pressed directly on whether he believed the strikes ordered by Hegseth were unlawful, Kelly sharpened his accusation:
“Absolutely, if the facts are as reported, that sounds like a textbook violation of international law— no quarter given to potential non-combatants.
“In my time in the Navy, we sank ships that posed imminent threats, but we didn’t target survivors.
“That’s murder, plain and simple.”
Kelly then used the segment to dismiss the misconduct investigations into his own actions, pivoting back again to the Washington Post narrative.
The Biden-aligned senator’s rhetoric comes as the Trump administration has intensified counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean and Pacific.
The Pentagon has confirmed multiple successful strikes against drug-running vessels linked to designated terrorist organizations.
Hegseth has repeatedly emphasized that the goal is to destroy vessels importing lethal narcotics and to stop traffickers who, as President Trump has noted, “kill hundreds of thousands of people a year” with the poison they bring into the United States.
Welker pressed Kelly on whether troops should have fired the second missiles at the suspected trafficking vessel.
“The courts will sort it out, but our service members shouldn’t have to guess,” Kelly replied.
“They need clear guidance from Congress and the chain of command that we won’t tolerate war crimes.
“And right now, with this administration, that guidance is more important than ever.”
WATCH:
Kelly’s remarks mark the latest phase in a coordinated Democrat messaging push.
His “refuse illegal orders” video, produced alongside Reps. Jason Crow (D-CO), Chris Deluzio (D-PA), Maggie Goodlander (D-NH), Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), and Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), triggered formal inquiries after top security officials warned it could undermine military cohesion.
Republicans have blasted the effort as a reckless attempt to sow doubt within the armed forces and destabilize the chain of command at a moment when the U.S. is confronting foreign adversaries, mass illegal migration, and elevated cartel activity.
Meanwhile, the anonymously sourced Washington Post report Kelly continues to rely on has not been corroborated by any on-the-record official.
Hegseth maintains that the piece was designed “to discredit our incredible warriors fighting to protect the homeland.”
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