A MAGA senator was called out after he tied himself in knots over Donald Trump’s efforts to imprison two of his Senate colleagues for a video in which they quoted the Military Code of Justice.
A grand jury refused last week to indict six Democratic members of Congress, including Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, for interfering with the loyalty, morale, or discipline of the U.S. armed forces after they released a video reminding service members that they had a duty to disobey illegal orders.
Trump had previously accused the lawmakers, all of whom have military or intelligence backgrounds, of “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” but several Senate Republicans called the attempted indictment “chilling” and said the administration’s “political warfare” needs to stop.
Sen. Mark Kelly was one of six Democratic lawmakers who made a video reminding service members of their duty to disobey “illegal orders.” Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
During an interview Sunday with Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, CNN’s State of the Union host Jake Tapper asked Mullin how he felt about Trump “trying to send those six members of Congress, including two of your Senate colleagues, to prison.”
The pro-MAGA senator responded by claiming he had no opinion on the controversy.
“Well Jake, it’s not the lane I walk in. I leave that to the DOJ,” he replied. “I’m not an attorney.”
An incredulous Tapper pushed back.
“I do have a tough time imagining, let’s say if the Biden administration had tried to persecute [Sen.] Rand Paul [of Kentucky] for saying things about COVID that they didn’t like, I have a tough time imagining you would say the same thing,” he said.
“Well, I would say the same thing if I’m not familiar with the case law,” Mullin insisted. “Like I said, I’m not an attorney.”
Sen. Markwayne Mullin felt comfortable weighing in on President Donald Trump’s criminal prosecutions, but said he couldn’t comment on the DOJ’s efforts to imprison Democratic senators because he’s not a lawyer. Pool/Getty Images
But just seconds later, he undercut his own argument by accusing former President Joe Biden’s administration of using the Department of Justice for “political leverage… when they went after Trump year after year after year.”
“You just said you didn’t want to weigh in, but then you accused the Biden DOJ of politicizing the DOJ,” Tapper pointed out.
He then named two more of Trump’s political opponents that Pam Bondi’s DOJ has targeted—former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
“You really don’t think this DOJ is politicized?” Tapper asked.
“I don’t think there’s even a question that the DOJ was weaponized against President Trump at this point,” Mullin replied.
A federal judge blasted Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for trying to censure and demote Sen. Mark Kelly. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who calls himself the “Secretary of War,” has also sought to strip Kelly of his rank and pension over the illegal orders video. The combat veteran and astronaut retired in 2011 with the rank of captain.
Last week a federal judge appointed by President George W. Bush issued a blistering opinion blocking Hegseth’s effort to censure and demote Kelly, making the administration 0 for 2 on this particular revenge campaign.
