{"id":2534236,"date":"2026-01-12T23:13:02","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T04:13:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kelly-claims-pattern-of-political-persecution-amid-powell-turmoil-12\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T23:14:50","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T04:14:50","slug":"kelly-claims-pattern-of-political-persecution-amid-powell-turmoil-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kelly-claims-pattern-of-political-persecution-amid-powell-turmoil-12\/","title":{"rendered":"Kelly claims &#8216;pattern&#8217; of political persecution amid Powell turmoil"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fkelly-claims-pattern-of-political-persecution-amid-powell-turmoil-12%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2534236&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) said the federal government appears to be following a &#8220;pattern&#8221; of weaponizing investigations against political opponents after the Justice Department opened a criminal probe into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. The DOJ inquiry concerns weather Powell lied or misrepresented the taxpayer-funded, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kelly-claims-pattern-of-political-persecution-amid-powell-turmoil\/\" title=\"Kelly claims &#039;...&#039; of political persecution amid ... turmoil\">multibillion-dollar renovation<\/a> of Fed headquarters during congressional testimony; the inquiry has drawn bipartisan criticism and Powell has denied wrongdoing, suggesting it may be tied to clashes with the White House over <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/moodys-downgrades-credit-ratings-of-regional-us-banks-may-be-future-cuts-to-others\/\" title=\"Moody&#039;s downgrades US regional banks&#039; credit ratings; more cuts expected.\">interest-rate policy<\/a>. Kelly &#8211; a retired Navy captain &#8211; made the remark while responding to questions about potential DOJ politicization. His comment follows the Pentagon&#8217;s recent penalization of Kelly for appearing in a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" ><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/watch-seditious-sen-slotkin-cant-point-to-illegal-military-order-from-trump-so-she-brings-up-a-tom-cruise-movie-instead-can-dems-get-any-more-disgraceful\/\" title=\"Watch: Seditious .... Slotkin Can&#039;t Point to Illegal Military Order from Trump, So She Brings up a Tom Cruise Movie Instead - Can Dems Get Any More Disgraceful?\">controversial video urging<\/a> service members<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-accused-of-encouraging-military-coup-with-coordinated-message-to-armed-services-personnel\/\" title=\"Democrats Accused of Encouraging &#039;Military Coup&#039; with Coordinated Message to Armed Services Personnel\">refuse illegal orders<\/a>, an action that Secretary Pete Hegseth called seditious and sought to punish by demoting and censuring Kelly. Kelly has sued the Trump administration, arguing the interventions are intended to intimidate a political opponent and violate First Amendment protections for legislators, and asserting Hegseth prejudged the matter publicly before any investigation concluded.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Kelly points to &lsquo;pattern&rsquo; of persecution amid Powell investigation and Hegseth suit<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2471122\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Sen. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/mark-kelly\/\">Mark Kelly<\/a> (D-AZ) suggested on Monday that the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/trump-administration\/\">Trump administration<\/a> has fallen into a &ldquo;pattern&rdquo; of weaponizing the government against political foes.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Arizona Democrat&rsquo;s statement <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/acyn\/status\/2010821153296957451?s=46\">came in response<\/a> to questions about whether he believes the Department of Justice is being &ldquo;weaponized&rdquo; against the Federal Reserve, particularly after the DOJ recently launched <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4414264\/doj-criminal-investigation-jerome-powell\/\">a criminal investigation<\/a> into Chairman Jerome Powell. <\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4414759\/mary-peltola-campaign-puts-lisa-murkowski-tough-endorsement-spot\/\">Peltola campaign puts Murkowski in tough endorsement spot<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/healthcare\/4414614\/louisiana-attorney-general-headline-senate-abortion-pill-hearing\/\">Louisiana attorney general to headline Senate abortion pill hearing<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/4413989\/rand-paul-trump-strike-iran-protests\/\">Rand Paul warns Trump striking Iran could rally protesters against US<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>The investigation is related <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/mikebolen\/status\/2010835868064628884\">to concerns<\/a> that Powell lied about or misrepresented the taxpayer-funded, multibillion-dollar renovation of the Fed headquarters building during congressional testimony. It has <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/finance-and-economy\/4414982\/gop-chairman-french-hill-defends-jerome-powell-break-from-trump\/\">attracted bipartisan criticism <\/a>as Powell maintains his innocence and <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.federalreserve.gov\/newsevents\/speech\/powell20260111a.htm\">has suggested<\/a> that it is tied to his clashing with the White House <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/3487268\/trump-unloads-on-jerome-powell-federal-reserve-interest-rates\/\">over interest rates<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Kelly said he sees &ldquo;huge issues with what they are doing to him [Powell].&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It seems to be a pattern,&rdquo; he added.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The comments from Kelly, who served 25 years in the Navy, <span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\">follow the Pentagon&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/defense\/4406576\/hegseth-demotes-mark-kelly-issues-censure-seditious-six-video\/\">penalization of<\/a><\/span><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/defense\/4406576\/hegseth-demotes-mark-kelly-issues-censure-seditious-six-video\/\">  the retired captain<\/a> earlier this month for appearing in a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3896297\/slotkin-says-trump-attacks-democrat-veteran-lawmakers-tool-of-fear\/\">controversial video <\/a>urging U.S. military members to disobey illegal orders. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth sought to demote Kelly and issued him a letter of censure, as the Trump administration argued the video marked&nbsp;&ldquo;seditious behavior&rdquo; and implied that the president &ldquo;has given illegal orders, which he has not.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Reporter: Is the DOJ being weaponized against the Fed? Against Powell?<\/p>\n<p>Kelly: I see huge issues with that they are doing to him and it seems to be a pattern. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/93rgA4JzI5\">pic.twitter.com\/93rgA4JzI5<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Acyn (@Acyn) <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Acyn\/status\/2010821153296957451?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 12, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4413573\/trumps-foreign-policy-threatens-grip-congressional-republicans\/\"><strong>TRUMP&rsquo;S FOREIGN POLICY THREATENS GRIP ON CONGRESSIONAL REPUBLICANS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Kelly responded by <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/defense\/4415063\/mark-kelly-sues-pete-hegseth-retirement-grade-reduction\/\">filing a lawsuit<\/a> against the Trump administration. He has framed the actions from the White House as an effort to trample protections for legislative independence, and &ldquo;intimidate&rdquo; a political opponent with&nbsp; &ldquo;a censure or threats to demote me or prosecute me.&rdquo; Hegseth &ldquo;prejudged&rdquo; the outcome of his investigation into the legality of the video by declaring Kelly&rsquo;s statements &ldquo;seditious&rdquo; on social media prior to an investigation, according to the lawsuit.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The First Amendment forbids the government and its officials from punishing disfavored expression or retaliating against protected speech,&rdquo; the complaint reads. &ldquo;That prohibition applies with particular force to legislators speaking on matters of public policy.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kelly: Pattern of gov&#8217;t persecution<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3142,"featured_media":2534237,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AP25197726245434.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[7206,48805,45281,36034,8975],"class_list":["post-2534236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-kelly","tag-military-leadership","tag-partisan-politics","tag-political-persecution","tag-powell"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AP25197726245434.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2534236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2534236"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2534236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2534240,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2534236\/revisions\/2534240"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2534237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2534236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2534236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2534236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}