Mark Kelly Confronts Pete Hegseth In Heated Exchange Over ‘Bullsh*t’ Probe

WASHINGTON ― Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth got into a heated exchange Tuesday about U.S. military strikes against alleged drug boats in the Pacific Ocean, as well as a highly unusual probe Hegseth has ordered into a video Kelly and other Democratic lawmakers made reminding service members of their duty to disobey illegal orders.

The back-and-forth occurred at a classified, closed-door meeting of the entire U.S. Senate. Kelly, who was seated just feet away and directly in front of Hegseth, asked the defense secretary about the U.S. military operations near Venezuela, according to a source familiar with the exchange. Hegseth responded by referencing the video the senator had recorded last month that is under investigation by the Pentagon.

Kelly then interrupted Hegseth, urging him to stay on topic and noting that in 2016, Hegseth had made similar comments warning about Trump issuing unlawful orders.

“I politely reminded him that, in 2016, he was very eloquent in his position about the same exact thing, right?” Kelly said afterward in an interview with HuffPost.

“He’s really big into the performance,” the senator added, noting that Hegseth never responded to his 2016 callback. “You know, even in the [secure room for classified briefings], he wants to perform. He doesn’t want to answer questions about these strikes on boats in Venezuela.”

Hegseth, a former U.S. Army National Guardsman and Fox News host, joined Secretary of State Marco Rubio in briefing Congress on the controversial Sept. 2 strikes against suspected drug runners. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have vowed to investigate the strikes, which killed two men who had survived an initial strike. Democrats are calling on the Trump administration to release the full, unedited video footage of the strikes.

Hegseth’s appearance on Capitol Hill followed an announcement by the Defense Department on Monday that it is elevating what had initially been a “review” of Kelly’s participation in the video to service members to an “official Command Investigation” to be carried out at least in part by the Pentagon general counsel’s office. The Pentagon has gone so far as to threaten court-martial proceedings for the senator, who is a decorated U.S. Navy combat veteran and astronaut.

“This is all a bunch of bullshit,” Kelly, a potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender, told reporters on Tuesday. “They’re going after me, a U.S. senator, for something I said that was lawful, was the truth. … It was something that Pete Hegseth said in 2016 multiple times.”

Kelly’s attorney has vowed to fight the effort in court, calling it “unconstitutional and an extraordinary abuse of power.”

HuffPost has reached out to the Defense Department for comment.

Some Senate Republicans have criticized the administration’s probe of their Democratic colleague. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said he didn’t think Kelly broke any laws, while Rand Paul (R-Ky.) called it a “terrible idea.”

Paul also criticized the Trump administration’s military actions in the Pacific Ocean after attending the classified briefing in the Senate on Tuesday.

“I didn’t hear anything in there that really justifies blowing up people clinging to wreckage,” Paul said, referring to the controversial Sept. 2 strike. “I’ve seen nothing that really makes me think that that’s either a legal thing to do or a moral thing to do.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), meanwhile, said he worried about the U.S. getting into another “endless war” after decades of prolonged conflicts in the Middle East.

“We have thousands of troops and our largest aircraft carrier in the Caribbean — but zero, zero explanation for what Trump is trying to accomplish,” Schumer said in a Senate floor speech. “Americans do not want our troops to get ensnared in another forever war. And the risk for war will only get worse the more belligerent Donald Trump acts off the coast of South America.”