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ProPublica’s botched Pete Hegseth smear proves the need to purge the military of partisanship

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ProPublica’s botched Pete Hegseth smear proves the need to purge the military of partisanship

By New York Post Editorial Board  |  New York Post

A botched smear of Secretary of Defense-designate Pete Hegseth just further exposed the rank partisanship in both the military and the media.

And showed exactly why President-elect Donald Trump needs a reformer like Hegseth running the Pentagon.

On X Wednesday, Hegseth flagged an in-the-works hit piece, saying: “We understand that ProPublica (the Left Wing hack group) is planning to publish a knowingly false report that I was not accepted to West Point in 1999.”

To kibosh any doubt, he included a photo of his acceptance letter from then-West Point Superintendent, Lt.-Gen. Daniel Christman.

ProPublica senior editor Jesse Eisinger answered with telling haughty self-importance: “We asked West Pt public affairs, which told us twice on the record that he hadn’t even applied there. We reached out. Hegseth’s spox gave us his acceptance letter. We didn’t publish a story. That’s journalism.”

He followed with an 11-part thread (concluding. “This is how journalism is supposed to work”!) on the tale, but never explained why the publication started chasing the story in the first place — nor why ProPublica never dug into, say, Tim Walz’s claims.

The reason, of course, is that ProPublica isn’t so much a news outlet as it is a left-wing “opposition research” project, funded by shadowy “anonymous” donors to dig up dirt (some of it possibly true) on Republicans and conservatives.

As witness its smears Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.

Still a mystery is just how the West Point public affairs team failed so conveniently for ProPublica’s agenda, repeatedly giving false info to an agenda-driven outlet — answers that might’ve violated the Privacy Act even if they’d been true.

A genuine news outlet could’ve turned these events into an exposé on the forces working to tank this nomination.

You have to wonder if some insider (at the school, or higher up the command chain) didn’t suggest ProPublica chase this story.

Certainly, high command is nervous about Hegseth’s and Trump’s stated intentions to fire “woke” generals who’ve risen to the top as politicians-in-uniform.

Hegseth’s lucky he had that 20-year-old letter handy: Absent hard proof to the contrary, ProPublica might well have gone to press with the lie, “apologizing” only when and if it had to.

With the eager cooperation of top Pentagon “career” officials, Democrats for years have pushed political correctness and even mandatory DEI “re education” on our troops.

Putting political partisans in civilian jobs at West Point is even easier.

Heck, the military academy “voluntarily” removed “duty, honor, country” from its mission statement in March.

The longer the Hegseth nomination fight goes on, the more obvious the need for someone like Pete to start cleaning house at the Pentagon.

America needs a military devoted to doing its job, not to catering to the left.

First published on the New York Post


Comments on the op-ed

“Woke and left wing lies coming out of West Point. The service academies have put DEI on top of their agenda. Time to clean house.”

“You would think that people at the Pentagon and West Point were smart enough to know messing over your new boss could be bad for your career. Combined with ProPublica’s involvement, it just goes to show how deep the rot in government and media has gotten.”

“More proof the left and deep state are comfortable lying to protect their power. Glad Pete had the evidence to call them out on this.”

“Once he becomes SecDef the PR dept at West Point will be cleansed.”

“The Post needs a follow up story stating who in West Point’s Public Affairs released this story and why.”

“As a military retiree I read things like this and makes my stomach churn. There has always been “politics” in the military, the kind that comes with vying for the best set of orders or the best evaluations, but it was internal and did not include going after our civilian leadership.”

“West Point needs to restore their mission statement – Duty, honor, country”. And abide by it.”

“I’m certain that some of these liberal elitist generals and military higher-ups are seeing the handwriting on the wall. Like Nebuchadnezzar, their days are numbered, and their protectors have been rejected by a majority of the American people. The swamp needs to be drained of their woke ideologies and integrity restored to the highest levels of government and military.”

“Woke leadership has no, I said No, place in the military. The wokesters that were and are there need to go.”

“Once the dust settles and Pete is in charge, I hope he reinstates the West Point mantra… Duty, Honor, Country”

“The above story just shows how MSM is no longer valid. No one believes msm these days.”

“Race and gender instruction should not be a top priority in the training of cadets. Progressives are the enemy of the USA.”

“Oh West Point didn’t twice give them false information. They simply lied about it and then reversed themselves when they realized they’d been caught. They had the nerve to bolster their lie by calling it “journalism.” An outfit of real journalists would’ve named names and demanded an explanation. Left wing news is nothing if not fake.”

“My father (USMA 1955) would be rolling over in his grave had he lived to see the PC garbage and the discarding of the Point’s hallowed motto. Miss you, dad, and the world you lived in.”

“I’m an Army veteran “through and through” but after reading about the “stunt” West Point tried pulling on Pete I kinda hope Navy kicks their tail feathers on Saturday.”

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