A Trump administration official told The Washington Post on Tuesday, April 7, that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has not been telling the truth to President Donald Trump amid the US-Iran war. The official claimed on condition of anonymity that Hegseth has been misrepresenting the US position in its war with Iran in his conversations with Trump.
“Pete is not speaking truth to the president,” the source told the outlet. “As a result, the president is out there repeating misleading information.”
Some points of contention include Hegseth’s claim that the United States has “overwhelmingly destroyed” Iran’s missile and drone program. However, in reality, over half of the country’s missiles are reportedly still intact. The United States does not have “complete control” of Iranian skies either, contrary to Hegseth’s claims.
Hegseth claimed for weeks that Iran has “no air defenses” and could do “nothing” about US air incursions. However, President Trump did confirm during a new White House news conference that a shoulder-fired “heat-seeking missile” downed the F-15 that left two US airmen stranded inside Iranian territory, before they were rescued.
“He got lucky. It was a lucky hit,” Trump said.
{{/usCountry}}“He got lucky. It was a lucky hit,” Trump said.
{{/usCountry}}Kelly Grieco, a military analyst at the Stimson Center, stressed that the F-15’s downing is what happens “when you have air superiority but don’t have air supremacy.” “Our air superiority is limited geographically to the west and to south but also in terms altitude,” she said, adding that the US planes may have been flying above 15,000 or even 30,000 feet in an attempt to avoid the type of shoulder-fired rockets that hit the F-15.
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According to The Washington Post, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly dismissed claims that Hegseth has misinformed Trump. She added that the President always knew the Iranians would shoot back.
“He has always had the full picture of the conflict. Nothing has surprised him or our military planners, who were prepared for any possible contingency,” she said.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell referred to scrutiny of Hegseth’s public messaging as “lies and propaganda.”
“Secretary Hegseth has provided the Commander-in-Chief with decisive military options to achieve our clear, scoped objectives: destroy Iran’s missile arsenal, annihilate their Navy, destroy their terrorist proxies, and ensure Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon,” he said in a statement. “The Washington Post is pushing a fake story of failure.”
Pete Hegseth faces impeachment calls
Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.) said on Monday, March 6, that she will introduce articles of impeachment against Hegseth for war crimes after Donald Trump’s strikes on Iran’s bridges, desalination plants and power plants.
“Trump is escalating a devastating, illegal war, threatening massive war crimes and targeting civilian infrastructure in Iran. In the last 48 hours alone, the rhetoric has crossed every line. Pete Hegseth is complicit,” Ansari wrote on X. “I’ve called for the 25th Amendment and am introducing Articles of Impeachment against Hegseth.”
Meanwhile, journalist Scott MacFarlane quoted Ansari as saying, “Only Congress has the power to declare war, not a rogue president or his lackeys. Hegseth’s reckless endangerment of U.S. servicemembers and repeated war crimes, including bombing a girls’ school in Minab, Iran and willfully targeting civilian infrastructure, are grounds for impeachment and removal from office.”
Ansari is not the first to suggest that Hegseth be impeached for war crimes. Last December, Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.) filed articles of impeachment against the defense secretary. However, he has not forced a vote on the matter. According to Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and other lawmakers, targeting civilian infrastructure in the country constitutes clear war crimes.