An investigation by The Washington Post reveals that disgraced Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth lied while concealing the actual count of American military soldiers and sailors in convicted felon president Donald Trump’s illegal and unconstitutional war with Iran.
Noah Robertson, Tara Copp, Warren P. Strobel and Alex Horton report:
More American service members have died in the Middle East during the ongoing Iran war than the Pentagon has disclosed publicly, according to six U.S. officials familiar with the Defense Department’s internal casualty accounting data.
Five of the officials said there have been at least 22 military fatalities — four more than what appears in the Pentagon’s public database, known as the Defense Casualty Analysis System, or DCAS.
A sixth official, who like the others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the figures, said 23 service members have died since Feb. 28, when the Trump administration, in concert with Israel, initiated the Iran war.
Additionally, the official said, three U.S. contractors who were based in the region have died since combat operations began.
As of Friday, the Pentagon’s DCAS database lists 18 U.S. military fatalities, including deaths caused by hostile and nonhostile action dating to the start of the Iran conflict.
Details surrounding the undisclosed deaths — including the service members’ identities, as well as when, how and where they died — remain unclear. Officials familiar with the higher casualty number expressed frustration that the additional loss of life is not reflected in the Pentagon’s public casualty portal.
The Pentagon declined to address questions about the accounting discrepancy.
The revelations showcase the corrupt actions of Hegseth, who calls himself the “Secretary of War.” An alcoholic who promised to quit drinking to gain confirmation of the defense post, Hegseth was thrown out of the National Guard because of tattoos that the military felt were Nazi symbols. He also belongs to a right-wing White Supremacist Nationalist church that tells woman to keep quiet and has claimed slavery was “necessary” before it was eliminated by President Abraham Lincoln.
Hegseth has dismissed women and officers of color, leaving the Pentagon short of veteran, proven leaders. His actions have also left the national military with a shortage of needed missiles and weapons.
Arizona Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, a former astronaut and Navy veteran, is among those fed up with Hegseth and Trump. On MS Now, he outlined his reasons:
Trump has tried to limit access of news organizations that raise needed questions about his failed presidency and his disgraced Secretary of Defense. He has banned CNN, MS Now and Politico from the White House press room and briefings and Hegseth has followed suit.
Trump’s and Hegseth’s anger comes from reports like this one from Sarah Ferris on CNN:
House Democrats were privately dreading a politically charged — but purely symbolic — vote on impeaching President Donald Trump triggered by one of their own members.
Then came something unexpected.
Just hours before that vote, GOP Rep. Thomas Massie surprised his colleagues with a push to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a stunning act of intraparty warfare that deepens the rogue congressman’s rift with Trump and GOP leaders.
Massie’s push to impeach Hegseth, like the Democratic push to impeach Trump, is doomed to fail. Yet both votes have created headaches for their respective party leaders, neither of whom want to spend the final days in session before the midterms dealing with impeachment drama that exposes intraparty rifts.
Massie’s impeachment push — with dozens of pages of legal arguments — appeared to have been in the works for weeks. But he told reporters Tuesday that he did not inform party leaders of his plans to introduce the articles of impeachment against Hegseth.
Republicans do not want to watch Massie make history as the first member of Congress to try to impeach a Cabinet member of the same party — particularly after he lost his primary to a Trump-backed opponent this spring. And they’re furious he made the move without informing leadership, according to multiple sources.
“I didn’t give anybody heads-up,” Massie told reporters Tuesday afternoon. “When they found out I was doing the Epstein discharge petition, they canceled two weeks of Congress, and I think if they found out I was going to do this, they might have canceled even more days.”
Massie’s push to impeach Hegseth, like the Democratic push to impeach Trump, is doomed to fail. Yet both votes have created headaches for their respective party leaders, neither of whom want to spend the final days in session before the midterms dealing with impeachment drama that exposes intraparty rifts.
Massie’s impeachment push — with dozens of pages of legal arguments — appeared to have been in the works for weeks. But he told reporters Tuesday that he did not inform party leaders of his plans to introduce the articles of impeachment against Hegseth.
Republicans do not want to watch Massie make history as the first member of Congress to try to impeach a Cabinet member of the same party — particularly after he lost his primary to a Trump-backed opponent this spring. And they’re furious he made the move without informing leadership, according to multiple sources.
“I didn’t give anybody heads-up,” Massie told reporters Tuesday afternoon. “When they found out I was doing the Epstein discharge petition, they canceled two weeks of Congress, and I think if they found out I was going to do this, they might have canceled even more days.”
Republican Sources say reluctant members of their party are angry and some now appear ready to come our and take action.
“Hegseth is a pathological liar, just like Trump,” says one GOP strategist who asked not to be identified. “They are threats to America.”
