Mark Kelly blasts Trump over indictment attempt

What they're saying: "Federal prosecutors went to a grand jury to seek criminal charges against members of the United States Senate for something we said," Kelly said at a press conference. "They tried to have us charged and thrown into jail because we said something they didn't like."

• Kelly appeared alongside Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), who also participated in the video.
• "To be clear, this is not about the content of this one video. Let's call it for what it is. The president is using our justice system to weaponize against his perceived enemies," said Slotkin, a retired CIA officer.

Between the lines: Kelly told reporters that the Trump administration's repeated attempts to punish him for his comments are "straight from the authoritarian playbook."

• "Folks, this is the master alarm flashing for our democracy," he said.

Zoom out: Separate from the indictment attempt, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in January issued a formal Letter of Censure against Kelly, began the process to demote his rank and threatened criminal prosecution if the senator didn't change his behavior.

• Kelly has sued Hegseth in federal court to stop the demotion. A decision is expected in the case imminently.

The other side: The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.

The bottom line: "You'll be damn sure that we are not going to back down. We've been in war zones for this country," Kelly said.