The demand for Trump to act after “hell month”
Johan Edgar
Updated 00.25 | Published 00.08
He is called an “amateur” by the top Republican.
For a “fucking liar” and a “security risk” by the top Democrat.
His former spokesperson accuses him of having caused a “hell month”.
And states that new revelations will “hit like a bomb”.
There is a storm surrounding US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
After the Easter weekend now more than ever.
The New York Times revealed on Sunday that Hegseth, in addition to the previously reported Signal leak, also shared attack plans against the Houthi rebels in Yemen with his wife and brother.
“Total chaos”
At the same time, he is said to have fired several of his top-level employees in the Pentagon on very shaky grounds.
This prompted his former spokesman and close associate John Ullyot to write an op-ed in Politico on Sunday and accuse him of being behind “total chaos” in the Pentagon.
Ullyot also believes that the Department of Defense is lying about why three of Hegseth’s “most loyal employees” are being forced to leave their positions.
They are accused of leaking sensitive information, something that Ullyot believes is incorrect.
He also writes that the “month of hell” that has created a “complete meltdown” within the Pentagon has become a major problem for the White House.
Flags for more revelations
Ullyot says he has heard that more revelations from within the Pentagon “will hit like a bomb this week”.
On Monday, the first senior Republican also came out and said that Pete Hegseth should resign after the new Signal revelation.
Don Bacon, a member of the House of Representatives who sits on the Defense Committee, calls the Secretary of Defense an “amateur”.
– I am not in the White House and I am not going to tell the White House how they should handle this. But I think it is unacceptable and I would not tolerate it if it were me who decided, he says according to Politico.
"Is an amateur"
Bacon believes that it is particularly troubling that Hegseth is said to have used his private phone to communicate about the attack plans in Yemen with his family members.
- Russia and China have put thousands of people on the phone to monitor all these phone calls at the top. And the main target besides the president is probably the Secretary of Defense, says the top Republican.
- Russia and China are monitoring his phone and that he is spreading secrets on his phone is not right. He acts as if he is above the law - and that shows that he is an amateur.
Opponents within the Democrats have also not been slow to incite against Trump and his Secretary of Defense.
Tammy Duckworth, a senator on the defense committee and a veteran, believes that Hegseth every day "risks the lives of soldiers with his banal stupidity".
Trump's words on the phone
"How many times does Pete Hegseth have to leak classified intelligence before Donald Trump and the Republicans realize that he is not only a fucking liar, but also a risk to our national security," she writes in a statement.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says that "Donald Trump is too weak to fire him."
But the president still stands behind his favorite secretary.
In a phone call late Sunday night, Trump told Hegseth that "disgruntled leaks" were behind the information and that he stood by him as secretary of defense, The New York Times writes, citing a source who had the conversation recounted to him.
The Order: Support Hegseth
Trump also instructed his staff to come out and publicly support Hegseth, the newspaper writes.
– This is what happens when the entire Pentagon works against you and the monumental changes you are trying to introduce, said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in an interview with Fox News on Monday.
According to information to NPR, Trump, despite the supportive words, has begun looking for a replacement for Hegseth.
Leavitt called this “fake news” later on Monday.
Pete Hegseth himself does not admit that any wrongdoing was committed.
– This is what the media does. They use anonymous sources who are former employees and then they try to smear people and destroy their reputations, he told reporters outside the White House.
Inga kommentarer:
Skicka en kommentar