Judge Sees Bid to Demote Kelly as Assault on Free Speech of Veterans

Judge sees bid to demote Kelly as assault on free speech of veterans

WASHINGTON – At a hearing Tuesday, a federal judge cast Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s effort to demote Sen. Mark Kelly in retirement as an unprecedented attack on the free speech rights of military veterans.

Judge sees Hegseth bid to demote Sen. Mark Kelly as assault on free speech of veterans

WASHINGTON – At a hearing Tuesday, a federal judge cast Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s effort to demote Sen. Mark Kelly in retirement as an unprecedented attack on the free speech rights of military veterans.

Judge seems skeptical of legal justification for Pentagon’s punishment of Sen. Mark Kelly

WASHINGTON — A federal judge said Tuesday that he knows of no U.S. Supreme Court precedent to justify the Pentagon’s censuring of a sitting U.S. senator who joined a videotaped plea for troops to resist unlawful orders from the Trump administration. Sen. Mark Kelly had a front-row seat in a courtroom as his attorneys urged U.S. District Judge Richard Leon to block the Pentagon from punishing the Arizona Democrat, a retired U.S. Navy pilot. Leon …