Tonight in Your Rights: Sen. Kelly sues Hegseth
The retired Navy Captain and ex-astronaut filed a First Amendment lawsuit seeking to void Pete Hegseth's censure letter. Also: Lindsey Halligan's deputy has been fired.
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Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., sent a clear message to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in a federal lawsuit on Monday: When it comes to the First Amendment, the former Navy captain turned sitting senator won’t give up the ship.
In November, Kelly was one of six Democratic lawmakers participating in a video reminding members of the military and intelligence community about their obligation to refuse illegal orders.
“The video’s message—that service members ‘can refuse illegal orders’—is a plain statement of blackletter law,” Kelly’s lawsuit notes, citing the Uniform Code of Military Justice and international law.
In the wake of the video, Donald Trump called the decorated veteran a “traitor” and repeatedly suggested that the Democratic lawmakers who appeared in the video should be executed. Hegseth labeled them the “Seditious Six,” despite having made similar comments about disobeying illegal orders in 2016. The Pentagon opened an investigation, ultimately sending Kelly a censure letter.
Kelly called Hegseth’s and the Pentagon’s actions an unprecedented attack on the separation of powers and the First Amendment.
“The Executive’s actions also trample on protections the Constitution singles out as essential to legislative independence,” the 46-page complaint states. “It appears that never in our nation’s history has the Executive Branch imposed military sanctions on a Member of Congress for engaging in disfavored political speech. Allowing that unprecedented step here would invert the constitutional structure by subordinating the Legislative Branch to executive discipline and chilling congressional oversight of the armed forces.”
The lawsuit could be heading for a speedy reckoning.
Kelly’s attorney Paul J. Fishman asked a federal judge to issue an order seeking broad relief “no later than” Friday. The requested order would halt Hegseth’s censure letter, leave in place his retired grade as an O-6 captain, and bar any further criminal or administrative actions.
Senior U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, a George W. Bush appointee, has been assigned the case, and he has not set the date for arguments on the matter by press time.
Read Kelly’s lawsuit here.
Lindsey Halligan’s deputy fired
The top deputy to ex-Trump aide turned would-be prosecutor Lindsey Halligan has been fired for refusing to revive the criminal case against James Comey, according to multiple news reports.
The New York Times gave this account of the ouster of Halligan’s top deputy Robert McBride:
“The administration has tried to restart the Comey prosecution and wanted Mr. McBride to lead that effort, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions. Mr. McBride said he could not do that while also running the prosecutor’s office as the first assistant U.S. attorney — he could do one or the other, these people said.”
One of the Times’s sources disputed the account, claiming that McBride secretly lobbied federal judges in the Eastern District of Virginia to appoint him U.S. Attorney after a court found Halligan’s appointment unlawful.
MSNOW’s sources gave a nearly identical account, echoing both McBride’s reluctance to lead the Comey case in his position and the Trump Justice Department’s perception that he was “undermining the administration.”
Halligan faces a deadline on Tuesday to explain why she continues to identify herself in court papers as a U.S. Attorney after U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie found her appointment violated the Appointment’s Clause of the Constitution.
Upcoming hearings: Mangione and ICE
A federal judge ordered an evidentiary hearing on the handling of evidence following Luigi Mangione’s arrest in his death-penalty case within the next two weeks.
U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett said that she expected the hearing to be “brief,” unlike the weeks-long mini-trial the public saw in Mangione’s state-level case.
Look out for the archived video of my recent Substack Live conversation on this topic with investigative reporter Vicky Ward.
Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., delivered on his promised order to show cause why Kristi Noem hasn’t violated a federal judge’s order by reinstating an advanced notice policy on Congress members visiting immigration detention facilities.
U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb almost immediately scheduled a hearing on the matter for Wed., Jan. 14 at 9:30 a.m.
Read Neguse’s show-cause motion here.
Thank you, Adam for this helpful update and for your outstanding convo with Vicky Ward today.
Thank you!