Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is pushing back after reports that he shared details of a March attack on Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis in a message group that included his wife, brother, and personal lawyer.
At the White House Easter Egg Roll on Monday, Hegseth blamed the stories on disgruntled ex-employees.
“What a big surprise that a few leakers get fired and suddenly a bunch of hit pieces come out from the same media that peddled the Russia hoax,” Hegseth said. “No one ever calls them on it. This is what the media does. They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees and then they try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations.”
Hegseth said the media’s tactics are not going to work, and he remained committed to running the Defense Department.
“We’re changing the Defense Department and putting the Pentagon back in the hands of warfighters,” he said. “Anonymous smears from disgruntled former employees, that’s old news is not going to matter. This is why we’re fighting the fake news media, this is why we’re fighting slash and burn Democrats. This is why we’re fighting hoaxsters … that peddle anonymous sources from leakers with axes to grind. I’m really proud of what we’re doing for the president, fighting hard across the board.”
President Donald Trump stands behind Hegseth, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday.
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
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