ICYMI: On All in with Chris Hayes, Kelly Questions Recent U.S. Boat Strikes that are Putting Servicemembers at Risk
During the interview, Kelly also called out Speaker Johnson for refusing to swear in Congresswoman-elect Adelita Grijalva
In case you missed it, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly spoke with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes to raise questions about the legality and effectiveness of the Trump administration’s bombing of alleged drug boats in the Caribbean. He also warned that these actions can potentially put U.S. servicemembers in legal jeopardy.
Separately, Kelly made clear that House Speaker Mike Johnson refusing to swear in Congresswoman-elect Adelita Grijalva is delaying accountability for Jeffrey Epstein’s victims.
Sen. Kelly speaks to Chris Hayes on All in with Chris Hayes.
Watch the full interview here. See key excepts below:
On putting U.S. troops at risk…
“We got a brief a couple of weeks ago on the first three or four strikes. And I got to say, the administration, the Department of Defense, was just tying itself in knots trying to explain what the legal justification was for these kinetic strikes on these boats. I think it’s important to recognize also that it’s really serious that we have operations that interdict fentanyl, especially coming into the United States, but that’s not this. I mean, these routes are mostly used to traffic cocaine to Caribbean islands, and then on to Europe, not to U.S. shores. So, I think the administration is has really screwed this up.
I worry about those young sailors, aviators, you know, possibly Marines here, that have conducted these kinetic strikes, and what does this mean for their future? If they find out later that they did this without legal justification, it puts them in legal jeopardy at some point.”
On the importance of the rule of law in the conduct of U.S. military affairs starting at the top…
“It’s a bedrock principle that members of the U.S. military follow legal orders, and they should be able to speak truth to power. […] This administration with Pete Hegseth as the head of the Department of Defense, they’re doing things that are—forget about being outside the norms; they seem to be violating the law, and they have a president that just doesn’t seem to care and is conducting himself in a way that is putting servicemembers at greater risk. Now we’re flying B-52s along the coast of Venezuela, talking about regime change? How often has regime change worked out well for the United States, whether it’s in Vietnam, Cuba, Iraq or Afghanistan? It puts American lives at risk, and this is not making us more safe. It’s having the opposite effect.”
On Speaker Johnson refusing to swear in Representive-elect Adelita Grijalva…
“This is not consistent with the Constitution. The Constitution says when there’s an empty seat in a certain period of time, there should be a special election, and then the person elected should be sworn in. He doesn’t want to do that. And it’s pretty clear why he doesn’t want her being the last signature needed on this discharge petition to release the Epstein files. So, Mike Johnson, now for a number of weeks, is protecting the people that were associated with Jeffrey Epstein. That’s all this is about. And those women, by the way, Chris, they deserve accountability. They went through a horrible experience, and Mike Johnson is preventing that from happening? He needs to swear her in. He also needs to get Republicans back here to Washington, D.C., get the House of Representatives back open so we can have a serious negotiation about fixing people’s health care premiums and open up the government.”
