Pentagon threatens to prosecute Mark Kelly for sedition by recalling him to navy service

The Pentagon on Monday threatened to recall US Senator Mark Kelly, a retired navy captain, to active duty status in order to prosecute him after what it described as seditious behavior by the former astronaut and veteran.

Kelly, who denies any wrongdoing and who said in a statement he would not be intimidated, joined five other Democrats in Congress with backgrounds in the US military and intelligence community to urge US troops to refuse certain orders, a possible act of treason.

Kelly's November 18 video message came amid heightened concerns among Democrats, echoed privately by some US military officials, that the Trump administration is violating the law by ordering the US military to kill drug traffickers in strikes on their vessels in Latin American waters.

The Pentagon says those strikes are justified because the drug smugglers are considered terrorists.