Undermining National Security Is Nothing New For Mark Kelly

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., has found himself in some pretty hot water — and for good reason.

On Monday, the Department of War announced that Kelly, a retired Navy captain, could be “recall[ed] to active duty for court-martial proceedings or administrative measures” because of his participation in what has now been dubbed the “Seditious Six” video. As The Federalist’s Breccan Thies summarized, the video in question featured Kelly and other “Democrat lawmakers encourag[ing] military members to ignore orders from President Donald Trump, their commander-in-chief.”

“In a spliced video section from Reps. Chris Deluzio, D-Penn., and Jason Crow, D-Colo., they said that ‘threats to our Constitution aren’t just coming from abroad, but from right here at home.’ That was immediately followed by Kelly stating, ‘Our laws are clear: You can refuse illegal orders,’” Thies wrote. “They never specified which orders are illegal.”

According to War Secretary Pete Hegseth, while “[f]ive of the six individuals in that video do not fall under @DeptofWar jurisdiction,” Kelly — a “retired Navy Commander” — “is still subject to UCMJ [the Uniform Code of Military Justice].” Under the UCMJ, the secretaries of military departments are authorized to recall any retired service member to active duty in most cases.

While Kelly’s participation in his party’s “Seditious Six” gambit is certainly egregious, it shouldn’t be considered surprising. For years, the Arizona Democrat has regularly undertaken actions that undermine America’s national security.

One of the most recent examples happened earlier this year during the Senate confirmation hearing for the Air Force’s Dan Caine to become the next chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. During the hearing, Kelly attempted to run interference for alleged damning actions by former Joint Chiefs Chair Mark Milley.

While addressing those in attendance, the Arizona senator criticized the Trump Pentagon’s plans to investigate the retired general for reportedly telling his Chinese counterpart that the Trump-led U.S. had no intention of attacking China, and that he would “call [Beijing] ahead of time” if Trump were to launch such an offensive. Rather than condemn Milley’s purported actions, Kelly leapt to his defense, as The Federalist reported.

“[Milley’s] now facing an investigation by this administration and possible demotion. This is allegedly because he, in coordination with the then-Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, made phone calls to Chinese military officials to reassure them that the United States was not gonna launch an attack, preventing unnecessary conflict,” Kelly said. “Gen. Milley did this out of a deep respect and commitment to the Constitution of the United States, in my view.”

It’s almost fitting that Kelly’s apparent lack of concern over Milley’s reported actions involved America’s greatest geopolitical adversary, given the retired Navy captain’s extensive ties to entities connected to the Chinese Communist Party.

As has been widely reported in recent years, prior to becoming a senator, Kelly co-founded the Arizona-based space tourism company World View in 2012. According to a 2020 report by RealClearPolitics’ Susan Crabtree, World View received investment funds in 2014 and 2016 from Tencent, a Chinese tech giant that owns (and reportedly monitors) the Chinese messaging app WeChat. (Tencent is also known for suspending streaming of NBA games in 2019 after a league general manager voiced support for the Hong Kong protestors.)

While World View “started out with a focus on space tourism via [stratospheric] balloons, the vision evolved with the maturing of the company’s technology,” and later shifted to defense-related work with the U.S. government, according to Fox News. A World View representative told the outlet last year that Tencent has “zero access, zero input and zero control” over the company, and that World View’s “current leadership believed it was a mistake for the company to accept Chinese investment when it did.”

Per Fox News, Kelly “stepped away from his position at World View in 2019 to prepare for his U.S. Senate run,” and, according to the aforementioned World View official, “gave up all of his access, interest and control of the company when he left.” The only “remaining financial interest Kelly has in World View,” the outlet reported, “is secured in a blind trust.”

But Kelly’s role in World View is just the tip of the iceberg.

In 2020, The Washington Free Beacon reported that the Arizona Democrat was an adviser to and “held a significant financial interest in a Colorado company that partnered with a Chinese state-financed tech giant to bring supersonic aerospace technology to China in 2018, according to his financial disclosure reports.” The outlet separately reported months later on Kelly’s attendance at several “all-expenses-paid retreat[s]” in China in the early-to-mid 2000s, all of which were hosted by an organization tied to the Chinese government.

The Arizona Democrat reportedly called his experience at the conferences “one of the absolute highlights of my life, second only to flying in space.”

Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood