Pentagon Escalates Probe into Sen. Kelly Over Video

Washington -- The Pentagon has escalated its investigation into Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., over a November social media video in which he and five other Democratic lawmakers urged U.S. service members to refuse unlawful orders, officials confirmed Tuesday.

The Defense Department announced late Monday that it was advancing a preliminary review of Kelly's involvement into a full command investigation, a step typically used to examine allegations of wrongdoing that do not reach the level of criminal charges. Kelly, a retired Navy captain and former astronaut who served 25 years in the military, is the only participant in the video subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice due to his retirement status. The probe, directed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's office in coordination with the Pentagon's general counsel, focuses on claims that Kelly's statements brought discredit upon the armed forces and interfered with military morale and discipline.

Kelly addressed the development after a classified Senate briefing on U.S. counterdrug operations in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, where Hegseth raised the matter unprompted. "This is just about sending a message to retired...