President Donald Trump celebrated a Navy commander's support of his administration's investigation of Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., on Monday, following the Arizona Democrat's appearance in a video that urged members of the military not to follow illegal orders.
The Department of War announced last week that it was investigating Kelly, a retired Navy captain and former astronaut, for his participation in the video alongside five other Democrats who had previously served in the military or intelligence services.
On Sunday, retired Navy Cmdr. Kirk Lippold told Fox 5's "On the Hill" that, while the Trump administration does not have the legal grounds to recall Kelly to active duty to court-martial him, it was "clear" that the video was an attempt to encourage military members to refuse duty.
"When you retire at 20 years or more, you serve in the inactive reserves, and your entire period of time is 30 years. At that point, you're totally a civilian," Lippold said.
"So there really is not going to be a basis or a legal basis to recall [Kelly] to active duty."
"Clearly this video is a violation of U.S. law, and that is something that the Department of Justice should be looking into," he added.
In an early morning post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said that Lippold was "right on point" with his assessment of the situation.
"There are laws that impact our Nation. Read Title 18, Chapter 115, Section 2387, 'Whoever with the intent to interfere, impair, influence the loyalty, morale or discipline of the military and Naval Forces, … to be fined or imprisoned up to 10 years.' Commander Kirk Lippold, U.S. Navy, Ret. This is right on point. DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE!!!" the president wrote at 12:45 a.m. Monday.
For his part, Kelly has said that he is not intimidated by the White House's attempts to keep "me and other members of Congress from doing our jobs and holding this administration accountable."
"I've given too much to this country to be silenced by bullies who care more about their own power than protecting the Constitution," he wrote on X last week.
In an interview with CNN on Sunday, Kelly reiterated his stance, saying he's "not backing down."
"These guys don't scare me," Kelly said.
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.