America First Legal (AFL), a conservative non-profit legal group with ties to former President Donald Trump, is demanding an investigation into “highly partisan” comments made by a U.S. Navy sailor who had until recently been a digital ambassador for the military service.
In a Monday letter (pdf), AFL demanded Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro direct the service to initiate an investigation of Yeoman Second Class Joshua Kelley, a drag-performing sailor who goes by the alter-ego Harpy Daniels. AFL said Kelley “appears to have repeatedly violated the Uniform Code of Military Justice by engaging in partisan politics, acting disrespectfully towards his superiors in public forums, bringing discredit upon the military through obscene social media posts, and wearing the uniform under circumstances that imply Navy endorsement of personal views and activity.”
Department of Defense policy prohibits military members from “solicit[ing] votes for or against a partisan political party, candidate, or cause” whether or not they are in uniform. AFL noted a verified Twitter account affiliated with Kelley’s Harpy Daniels alter-ego shared posts on social media advocating for people to vote for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacy Abrams in Georgia in 2018 and other Democratic candidates in the 2018 midterms. Kelley also retweeted campaign materials by President Joe Biden’s 2020 Democratic presidential campaign.
In September of 2020, the Harpy Daniels Twitter account retweeted a post accusing Trump of refusing to condemn white supremacy and calling for people to “vote this piece of [expletive] out.” The Harpy Daniels Twitter account also retweeted a call to criminally charge Trump last year, sharing a message that read “charge the [expletive] already.”
AFL noted political conservatives who had engaged in similar partisan commentary had been discharged from the military. U.S. Marine Sgt. Gary Stein received an “other than honorable discharge” and lost some of his military benefits after he formed a Facebook group in 2012 called “Armed Forces Tea Party” and posted a comment: “Screw [President Barrack Obama]. I will not follow all orders from him.”
In addition to Kelley’s alleged political commentary, AFL’s letter to the Navy also noted disparaging comments Kelley allegedly said about his military leaders. In 2019, the Harpy Daniels Twitter profile tweeted that “All of 7th fleet is lazy”—a comment AFL interpreted as a knock on the leadership of Navy Vice Admiral Phillip Sawyer and Rear Admiral Ted LeClaire.
AFL noted Marine Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller was discharged after criticizing military leadership for its handling of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021; an event in which 13 U.S. troops were killed and 18 more were injured.
AFL called for the Department of the Navy to impose a similar disciplinary action against Kelley as it had against Stein and Scheller and said failure to do so “will create the appearance that it is sheltering YN2 Kelley not because his actions are appropriate, but rather because his partisan views are the official or unofficial views of the United States Navy itself.”
Kelley Was Navy ‘Digital Ambassador’
In addition to Kelley’s alleged partisan comments and criticism of military leaders, AFL argued that Kelley’s repeated social media posts of himself in uniform alongside photos as his drag alter ego and graphic references he allegedly made about his sexual activity brought discredit to the armed forces and constituted a misuse of his military uniform. AFL raised concern that the Harpy Daniels social media accounts lacked disclaimers that separate the posts from the official views of the Navy.
Rather than serving as a cause for disciplinary action, Kelley’s social media presence had actually served as a recruiting tool for the Navy. Last month, the Navy revealed that his alter ego had been part of an official “Digital Ambassador” program, relying on his and other sailors’ social media clout to attract new recruits. The ambassadorship was a pilot program that last from October 2022 until March 2023.
Fourteen Republican U.S. senators sent a letter to Del Toro last month, demanding answers about the pilot digital ambassador program, including whether taxpayer funding went to the program. The Navy has said its digital ambassadors were not compensated for their participation in the program.
The Navy has provided few additional details about how the digital ambassador program worked and how it assessed the recruiting performance of its ambassadors.
“The pilot has concluded; we are evaluating the program and how it will exist in the future,” a Navy spokesperson told NTD News last month.
NTD News sought to reach out to Kelley for comment on Tuesday but Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok accounts affiliated with the sailor have all been set to private mode.
NTD News also reached out to the Navy for comment but did not receive a response by the time this article was published.