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Come At Me: Mark Kelly, the Pentagon, and the Authoritarian Playbook
In this episode of The Rule of Law Brief, Nate Charles breaks down two explosive developments from the past 24 hours:
1. A federal judge has dismissed the indictments against James Comey and Letitia James after finding that Donald Trump’s hand-picked interim U.S. Attorney was unlawfully appointed. Every action she took—including the indictments themselves—was legally void. The Comey charges are now dead forever due to the expired statute of limitations.
2. The Pentagon has opened an investigation into Senator Mark Kelly that could theoretically lead to recalling him to active duty for a court-martial—simply for appearing in a video stating the obvious: U.S. military personnel must refuse illegal orders. Retired military lawyers quoted by NPR call the move “very rare,” “politically charged,” and legally absurd. Kelly’s statements are squarely protected by the Speech and Debate Clause.
From there, Nate walks through the authoritarian logic behind these actions, the parallels to non-violent civil disobedience, and why “standing in the breach” sometimes matters more for the country than for the individual under attack.
If you care about the rule of law, constitutional government, and calling authoritarianism by its name—subscribe. Every episode cuts through noise, exposes abuse of power, and explains what’s actually at stake for American democracy.
Get full access to The Rule of Law Brief at natecharles.substack.com/subscribe
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By Nathan M. F. Charles — Former federal prosecutor and Navy SEAL officer; Managing Partner at Charles International Law.In this episode of The Rule of Law Brief, Nate Charles breaks down two explosive developments from the past 24 hours:
1. A federal judge has dismissed the indictments against James Comey and Letitia James after finding that Donald Trump’s hand-picked interim U.S. Attorney was unlawfully appointed. Every action she took—including the indictments themselves—was legally void. The Comey charges are now dead forever due to the expired statute of limitations.
2. The Pentagon has opened an investigation into Senator Mark Kelly that could theoretically lead to recalling him to active duty for a court-martial—simply for appearing in a video stating the obvious: U.S. military personnel must refuse illegal orders. Retired military lawyers quoted by NPR call the move “very rare,” “politically charged,” and legally absurd. Kelly’s statements are squarely protected by the Speech and Debate Clause.
From there, Nate walks through the authoritarian logic behind these actions, the parallels to non-violent civil disobedience, and why “standing in the breach” sometimes matters more for the country than for the individual under attack.
If you care about the rule of law, constitutional government, and calling authoritarianism by its name—subscribe. Every episode cuts through noise, exposes abuse of power, and explains what’s actually at stake for American democracy.
Get full access to The Rule of Law Brief at natecharles.substack.com/subscribe