Hegseth calls for another investigation into Sen. Mark Kelly over remarks made during interview

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth called for another investigation into Sen. Mark Kelly, only days after a D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments about the Pentagon’s previous attempts to discipline the Arizona Democrat over his participation in a video suspected of being “seditious.”

Mr. Hegseth accused the senator, a retired Navy captain and former NASA astronaut, of divulging classified military information on Sunday during an interview on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

“‘Captain’ Mark Kelly strikes again. Now he’s blabbing on TV [falsely and dumbly] about a classified Pentagon briefing he received,” Mr. Hegseth posted Sunday on X. “Did he violate his oath - again? [The Defense Department] legal counsel will review.”

Sen. Kelly is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and received detailed briefings from the Pentagon on the number of weapons used in the war against Iran, including Tomahawk, THAAD, ATACMS, and Patriot missiles.

“It’s shocking how deep we have gone into these [ammunition] magazines, because [President Trump] got our country into this [war] without a strategic goal, without a plan, without a timeline,” he said on “Face the Nation.”

“We’ve expended a lot of munitions, and that means the American people are less safe - whether it’s a conflict in the western Pacific of China or somewhere else in the world, the munitions are depleted,” Sen. Kelly said.

He suggested that it’s the political leadership in the Trump administration who should be investigated over their handling of Operation Epic Fury, the U.S. campaign against Iran.

“Who decided to hit 15,000 targets and have so little to show for it except the tragic loss of 13 American servicemembers, higher gas prices for American families, and a depleted stockpile of critical munitions?” Mr. Kelly posted Monday on X.

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• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.