Congress

Kelly sues Hegseth over effort to punish him for anti-Trump video

Published

8 months ago

January 12, 2026

Sen. Mark Kelly is suing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other senior military leaders over the Pentagon’s attempt to punish him for telling troops not to follow illegal orders.

The Arizona Democrat, in filings made public Monday, asked a federal court to block a review that could demote the former Navy captain’s rank and reduce his retirement pay. Hegseth announced the review this month and censured Kelly for his comments against the administration.

The lawsuit is the latest salvo in a fight that began in November after Kelly and five other Democrats with national security backgrounds released a video reminding troops of their duty not to follow illegal orders. President Donald Trump and Hegseth have attacked their remarks as “seditious.”

The suit names Hegseth as a defendant along with Navy Secretary John Phelan, the Defense Department and the Navy. Kelly served for 25 years in the military, including time as a NASA astronaut and a fighter pilot who flew missions in Operation Desert Storm.

Kelly said in a statement that the lawsuit is necessary to stand up to improper and baseless behavior by Hegseth.

“His unconstitutional crusade against me sends a chilling message to every retired member of the military: if you speak out and say something that the president or secretary of Defense doesn’t like, you will be censured, threatened with demotion, or even prosecuted,” he said. “That’s not the way things work in the United States of America, and I won’t stand for it.”

The Pentagon didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

While Kelly and the other lawmakers did not specify in the video what orders they considered illegal, Democrats in recent weeks have argued Trump is putting the military in a legal gray area with deadly strikes against suspect drug smuggling boats in Latin America, the capture and arrest of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and by deploying the National Guard to U.S. cities.

The Pentagon announced an investigation into Kelly in November for “serious allegations of misconduct” that could result in recalling him to active duty for a court martial. The department last week stopped short of that, with Hegseth announcing proceedings to demote Kelly to a lower rank and reduce his retirement pay.

Kelly’s lawyers argue in the filing that the attacks from Hegseth “violate numerous constitutional guarantees and have no basis in statute” and “should proceed no further.”

Kelly contends Hegseth and Trump’s attacks on him pointed toward a preordained outcome that deprived him of a legitimate opportunity to rebut the allegations against him.

“If permitted to stand, the Secretary’s censure and the grade-determination proceedings that he has directed will inflict immediate and irreparable harm,” his lawyers wrote. “The Constitution does not permit the government to announce the verdict in advance and then subject Senator Kelly or anyone else to a nominal process designed only to fulfill it.”

Kelly said he’s being targeted over commentary on issues that are central to his role as a lawmaker: the management of the military by Hegseth, legislation related to war crimes and the military justice system.

The lawsuit argues that punishment for his comments would violate protections — codified in the Constitution’s speech or debate clause — meant to insulate Congress from executive branch pressure.

Kelly and his lawyers also note that “a sitting Member of Congress has never been subject to military punishment based solely on his speech.”

Congress

Appeals court’s Capitol steps ruling may signal trouble for Trump on media ban

Published

2 hours ago

September 22, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

A federal appeals court ruling Tuesday on demonstrators’ access to the steps of the Capitol could bode poorly for President Donald Trump’s attempt to ban three media organizations from the White House.

The majority opinion, written by Trump appointee Neomi Rao, concluded that the East Steps of the Capitol are a “nonpublic forum” — just like most areas of the White House grounds, including the press facilities. While the government may impose restrictions on access to those nonpublic areas, the limits must be “viewpoint neutral,” apply “objective, workable standards” and not permit officials to exercise “unbridled discretion over a forum’s use,” the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals panel concluded.

“A regulation that grants the government arbitrary control over who may speak invites the suppression of disfavored viewpoints and undermines the First Amendment’s core protections,” wrote Rao, who was joined in the majority by Judge Karen Henderson, a George H.W. Bush appointee.

The ruling, on the eve of a hearing over restoring White House accessfor Blue Light News, BLN and MS NOW, reaffirms the D.C. Circuit’s longstanding First Amendment precedents at an inopportune time for Trump. The president has explicitly described his ban on the three outlets as a punishment for publishing what he calls “fake news.”

“Fake News people and publications that only write negatively, and who violate our National Security by writing false and defamatory stories with unknown ‘sources,’ shouldn’t be allowed access to the most important Office anywhere in the World,” Trump said on social media Monday.

The outlets have said their access was revoked because the White House objected to their reporting and that the ban “threatens press freedom and the public’s right to independent journalism free from government interference.”

The D.C. Circuit would hear any appeals in the litigation over Trump’s media ban, and Trump has in fact already said he anticipates filing an appeal, presuming that he will be dealt a defeat in district court.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The D.C. Circuit’s Tuesday ruling stemmed from a lawsuit brought by Patrick Mahoney, a clergyman who sought to hold prayer vigils and demonstrations on the East Steps of the Capitol several months after the Jan. 6, 2021 attack, which resulted in new access restrictions. His permit was denied in part based on Capitol Police regulations that prohibit public demonstrations on the steps unless they are sponsored by a member of Congress.

Though the case has inched through the courts for years, Tuesday’s ruling resolves a key question, labeling the Capitol’s East Steps a “nonpublic forum” for which congressional authorities may restrict public access — in part because lawmakers use those steps to enter and exit the building.

But allowing members of Congress to sponsor gatherings on the steps creates an arbitrary system, the majority concluded.

“Because the protection of unpopular speech and advocacy is central to the First Amendment, we cannot leave it to the selective enforcement of members,” Rao wrote.

Notably, Rao’s opinion cites a D.C. Circuit ruling last year that concluded “it would be unreasonable to control access to White House press facilities through standardless discretion.”

The third judge on the panel, Clinton appointee Judith Rogers, dissented, but her opinion was even more protective of free-speech rights.

Rogers said she agreed with her colleagues that the “selective exception” for demonstrations sponsored by lawmakers was unconstitutional. However, she said she would have held that the lower portion of the Capitol steps was a public forum where the government was obligated to permit protest activity.

Congress

Ohio stations ignore Max Miller’s legal threat, run Democratic challenger’s ad

Published

4 hours ago

September 22, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Ohio television stations are so far choosing to ignore a legal threat from GOP Rep. Max Miller and broadcast an ad from his Democratic challenger centered on the allegations of domestic abuse Miller faces from his ex-wife.

A lawyer for Miller demanded that Cleveland-area television station WKYC not publish “false, malicious, and defamatory statements” in a Thursday cease-and-desist letter first reported by Blue Light News.

WKYC ran the ad Tuesday morning, according to ad-tracking firm AdImpact, as did two other Cleveland stations, WEWS and WOIO.

The 30-second ad from the Poindexter campaign and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee depicts a local sheriff listing the accusations levied against Miller levied by Emily Moreno, his ex-wife and the daughter of Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio). Miller has repeatedly denied the abuse allegations.

“The ad mentioned is filled with lies,” Miller spokesperson Abigail Angelos said in a statement. “Each of the statements in the advertisement are entirely unsubstantiated and contradicted by evidence.”

Representatives for the three TV stations did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Poindexter responded to the legal threat by tearing up the cease-and-desist letter in a campaign video.

Before the ad, Poindexter had focused his campaign on his working-class background and cost-of-living issues. Now the campaign has gotten intensely personal: The Democrat is on air publicizing Miller’s family dispute, while Miller’s campaign is lobbing accusations about Poindexter’s past run-ins with law enforcement in an ad paid for by the NRCC.

NRCC spokesperson Zach Bannon said in a statement that Poindexter is “completely out of touch with Northeast Ohio” and is a “life-long criminal” who is “fully embracing the radical far-left socialist agenda.”

Aaron Pellish contributed to this report.

Congress

GOP Senator wants to subpoena Donald Trump Jr. over Russian-funded wedding

Published

7 hours ago

September 22, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

A Senate Republican from Utah is asking the Senate Judiciary Committee to subpoena Donald Trump Jr. following reports that the president’s son had parts of his wedding paid for by a Russian oligarch with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Sen. John Curtis’ request, which comes following a news story by ProPublica, marks a significant break with President Donald Trump from a member of his own party.

“Questions have arisen about the relationships of President Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., with foreign business figures and the acceptance of significant gifts. These include a lavish wedding afterparty, on a private island, provided by Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev, who reportedly traveled to China as part of a delegation accompanying Vladimir Putin shortly before giving the gift,” Curtis wrote in a letter dated Sept. 21 to Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and the panel’s top Democrat, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois.

“These concerns are compounded by Donald Trump Jr.’s active promotion of family-backed cryptocurrency ventures, his continued pursuit of international real estate deals involving direct meetings with foreign heads of state, and his reported investments in defense contracting,” Curtis added.

Curtis, also noting the profits the Trump family has made through cryptocurrency deals, indicated this incident is part of a broader pattern where the relatives of U.S. presidents can improperly leverage their proximity to power.

In addition to probing Trump Jr., Curtis asked the Senate Judiciary Committee to subpoena President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, who over the years found himself enveloped in numerous self-dealing scandals. Both men, he said, should testify “regarding their past business dealings, relationships with foreign individuals and entities, gifts, or other benefits they have received, and any instances in which their relationship to the President was invoked or understood to provide value.”

“The country should not have to accept one standard for the family of a Republican president and another for the family of a Democratic president. Nor should congressional oversight begin and end when control of the White House changes hands,” Curtis said.

The White House did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday, but it’s unlikely that Trump, who demands loyalty from the GOP, will consider the bipartisan nature of Curtis’ request to be anything other than a personal affront.

Trump said in a statement he has “no idea who Umar is” and that he has “never heard of him, and he didn’t pay for Don and Bettina’s wedding, which took place at a totally different location, and on a different day from the wedding.”

Kremlev is president of the International Boxing Association and received an Order of Friendship medal from Putin for his “contribution to international sport and his commitment to the global boxing family.” He’s also been sanctioned by the Ukrainian government for his ties to Putin.

A spokesperson for Judiciary Committee Republicans confirmed Grassley was in receipt of the letter but could not commit to investigating the matter. The spokesperson noted that hearing dates are extremely limited through the end of 2026 and investigative hearings usually take months of background work before they can be scheduled.

It’s sure to be an issue Democrats pursue if they win the majority in either chamber next year. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, wrote to the White House and Donald Trump Jr. last week demanding information about the president’s son’s ties to Kremlev.

Cheyanne M. Daniels contributed to this report.