Hegseth's distinguishing characteristic on Fox was his fervent support for American service members who had been accused of war crimes, recalled Matt Gertz, senior fellow at Media Matters.
The Army Secretary is viewed as a close ally to Vice President JD Vance, having attended Yale Law School with him, and resisted Hegseth's pressure to fire Butler for months because of his ongoing contributions to the transformation of the Army, Griffin wrote, reporting how Butler was actually on a list to be promoted, not fired: Butler served as the head of public affairs for the Joint Chiefs when Gen. Mark Milley was chairman, and was slated to receive his first star.
So again, yeah, this is all a bunch of bullshit, and the reason why, I think, is because this is just about sending a message to retired service members, active-duty service members, government employees: do not speak out against this president, or there will be consequences, replied Kelly, adding: So it's a lot bigger than just dealing with me, and that's why they don't handle this professionally, like you would expect.
This all started in September, when Secretary Hegseth ordered the military to strike a boat to strike a boat that he said was carrying drugs to the United States. Ever since, he's been ordering more and more and more strikes, proudly announcing at least 20 strikes that have killed more than 80 people at sea. We could stop there and have plenty to talk about, but the picture has gotten a lot worse.
Republicans - who control the Senate and the House - joined Democrats in seeking answers from the Defense Department after The Washington Post reported last week that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had given a verbal order before the strike to kill all of the boat's crew members. But as of Friday evening, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Rep. Mike D. Rogers (R-Alabama), his counterpart inthe House, have yet to signal how they will proceed.
The Navy admiral who reportedly issued orders for the U.S. military to fire upon survivors of an attack on an alleged drug boat is expected Thursday on Capitol Hill to provide a classified briefing to top congressional lawmakers overseeing national security. The information from Adm. Frank "Mitch" Bradley, who is now the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, comes at a potentially crucial moment in the unfolding congressional investigation into how Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth handled the military operation in international waters near Venezuela.
Who would you trust to babysit your kids? This can only be another member of the cabinet. I mean, not your husband or Marco [Rubio], replied Hegseth as everyone laughed. I would trust the vice president. I mean, I've known Sean Duffy for years. I would trust him. I would trust Brooke Rollins or Pam [Bondi]. Tulsi [Gabbard]'s incredible. Asked, Who's most likely to call you after hours in an emergency? Hegseth answered, Uh, Stephen Miller.
Will wrote in a Washington Post op-ed on Tuesday that Hegseth has seemingly turned himself into a war criminal based on strikes on alleged drug boats leaving Venezuela. According to a report from The Washington Post, citing sources familiar with the situation, Hegseth ordered everyone aboard the boat to be eliminated, prompting critics to question whether he is guilty of a war crime. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth seems to be a war criminal. Without a war. An interesting achievement, Will wrote in his op-ed,
Yeah, well, first of all, I think we should just hold our fire here a little bit and let's get on with an investigation. I think the Pentagon should do the investigation. They do a lot of these things in the past, and they're very good at getting the facts out with all the variables and complexities that are involved here.
A very clear one. I can tell you that was definitely not artificial intelligence. I I watched it live! We knew exactly who was in that boat. We knew exactly what they were doing, and we knew exactly who they represented. And that was Tren de Aragua, a narco terrorist organization designated by the United States trying to poison our country with illicit drugs.
