Over twenty-five years in the U.S. Navy, thirty-nine combat missions, and four missions to space, I risked my life for this country and to defend our Constitution – including the First Amendment rights of every American to speak out. I never expected that the President of the United States and the Secretary of Defense would attack me for doing exactly that.
My rank and retirement are things that I earned through my service and sacrifice for this country. I got shot at. I missed holidays and birthdays. I commanded a space shuttle mission while my wife Gabby recovered from a gunshot wound to the head– all while proudly wearing the American flag on my shoulder. Generations of servicemembers have made these same patriotic sacrifices for this country, earning the respect, appreciation, and rank they deserve.
Pete Hegseth wants to send the message to every single retired servicemember that if they say something he or Donald Trump doesn’t like, they will come after them the same way. It’s outrageous and it is wrong. There is nothing more un-American than that.
If Pete Hegseth, the most unqualified Secretary of Defense in our country’s history, thinks he can intimidate me with a censure or threats to demote me or prosecute me, he still doesn’t get it. I will fight this with everything I’ve got — not for myself, but to send a message back that Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump don’t get to decide what Americans in this country get to say about their government.
When I was 22 years old, I commissioned as an Ensign in the United States Navy and swore an oath to the Constitution. I upheld that oath through flight school, multiple deployments on the USS Midway, 39 combat missions in Operation Desert Storm, test pilot school, four space shuttle flights at NASA, and every day since I retired – which I did after my wife Gabby was shot in the head while serving her constituents.
In combat, I had a missile blow up next to my jet and flew through anti-aircraft fire to drop bombs on enemy targets. At NASA, I launched on a rocket, commanded the space shuttle, and was part of the recovery mission that brought home the bodies of my astronaut classmates who died on Columbia. I did all of this in service to this country that I love and has given me so much.
Secretary Hegseth’s tweet is the first I heard of this. I also saw the President’s posts saying I should be arrested, hanged, and put to death.
If this is meant to intimidate me and other members of Congress from doing our jobs and holding this administration accountable, it won’t work. I’ve given too much to this country to be silenced by bullies who care more about their own power than protecting the Constitution.
UPDATE: This just happened, tonight.
And if you listened to Part III of our series, all about the FBI investigation into the NFLPA — linked in the tweet below — you know exactly how enormous this update from @DVNJr and @JeffPassan is.
https://t.co/RqgocW0Q0g
“This represents a fundraising efficiency rate of just 1.6 percent.
Here's what that number means: for every dollar a grandmother in Iowa donates believing she's saving democracy, 98 cents goes to consultants and operational costs” https://t.co/9ZYtzdWydS
@Riley_Gaines_ You’re truly sick, all of this campaigning because you lost a race. Straight up sore loser. You should be uplifting the trans community and perhaps finding a way to make sports inclusive OR creating a new avenue where trans feel safe in sports. Maybe a transgender category IN ALL sports!!
But instead… You bully them…
One things for sure is no one in sports is safe with you around!!!!!
A *huge* thank you to everyone who has signed up to get rapid response updates and those who are prepared to mobilize in North Carolina at a moment’s notice! Sign up below:
https://t.co/fjGQFWj6dc
I hope Senate Democrats understand there is nothing clever about setting up a fake failed 30 day CR first to turn around & vote for cloture on the GOP spending bill.
Those games won’t fool anyone. It won’t trick voters, it won’t trick House members. People will not forget it.
This is why you fight these cowards.
The moment you stand up to them, they crumble.
Homan has nothing. The Fourth Amendment is clear and I am well within my duties to educate people of their rights.
He can threaten me with jail & call names all he wants. He’s got nothing else.
Darren Beattie, the new head of public diplomacy at State, spent January 6 telling various black people — including Tim Scott — to “learn their place” and “take a knee to MAGA”
This is a wildly unhinged thing to say about people who have dedicated their lives to:
-preventing famine
-reducing conflict
-combatting terrorism
-promoting democracy
The admins obsession with personal power and grievance is making Americans significantly less safe.
What is happening to USAID will cost untold lives around the world, devastate America's standing, and massively empower China and other countries. There's no excusing it - it's a shameful, stupid, self-own without excuse and a harbinger of even worse to come.
Donald Trump lied through his teeth to pretend he had nothing to do with Project 2025.
But Trump named the lead architect of Project 2025 to oversee the budget office.
He doesn’t want you to see this news on the Friday night before Thanksgiving.
We’ll hold them accountable.
To everyone who is afraid of what happens next, I share your fears. But what we do next is important.
We have to learn from what happened. And then, make a plan. As we confront a second Trump presidency, here’s a path forward: 🧵
Did you put God first when you sent pictures of your dick to a reporter who wanted to see zero pictures of your dick? I forgot about that part in the Bible.
San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich just delivered a truth bomb about Donald Trump: "He's pathetic. He's small. He's a whiner...He's a damaged man."