The left will do anything to keep Pete Hegseth from becoming Donald Trump’s secretary of Defense, and they don’t mind if they have to publicly debase themselves to do it.
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RedState’s streiff had the scoop on Wednesday on how leftist rag ProPublica, which cosplays as “an independent, non-profit newsroom,” tried and failed miserably to build a narrative that Hegseth had lied about having applied to, and been accepted by, West Point.
Here’s a brief recap: Someone at ProPublica, possibly editor Jesse Eisinger, heard an old interview in which Hegseth said he had been accepted by the U.S. Military Academy and decided to contact West Point for confirmation. The person at West Point Public Affairs Office incorrectly responded that Hegseth had neither applied, nor been accepted, saying: “According to the admissions office – Hegseth had not applied for admission to the U.S. Military Academy.”
More from streiff:
Given what we’ve seen about leftist ideology taking hold of West Point, there is nothing mildly shocking about a member of the staff there deciding they could take down Hegseth with a story he couldn’t disprove.
Eisinger and ProPublica clearly thought they had a “gotcha” moment at hand, and contacted Hegseth’s lawyer for comment. After some back and forth, Hegseth provided an image of his acceptance letter from 1999, prompting West Point to apologize for disseminating a lie.
Sadly, ProPublica had to scrap their planned hit piece, and that should have been the end of the story. It wasn’t, of course, because Eisinger took to X to pat himself on the back for making the effort to tarnish Pete Hegseth’s reputation. He really thought he was going to be applauded for doing what he described as “real journalism,” but instead found himself being heaped with scorn and derision for not pursuing the actual story: the esteemed West Point being caught in a lie.
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But, wait, there’s more. On Thursday, additional information emerged about the sloppy “real journalism” practiced by the cosplayers at ProPublica.
Despite Eisinger’s claim that ProPublica had reached out to Hegseth’s team and given them “a fair chance to respond to all of the salient facts in the story,” the truth is somewhat different: they only gave a measly one hour’s lead time before threatening to go public with the story.
“I’m reaching out with an urgent request for comment for your client Pete Hegseth. We’re moving quickly so please let me know if you or he would like to comment as soon as possible. Our deadline is in one hour,” the email reads.
Elliott explains that a West Point spokesperson told ProPublica Hegseth never even applied to the school. He then asserts, seemingly based on West Point’s statement at face value, that Hegseth was lying.
“Why did Mr. Hegseth say he got in to West Point when that is not true?” Elliott wrote. “How can Mr. Hegseth be Secretary of Defense given that he has made false statements about getting in to the military’s most prestigious academy?” he continued. “Is there anything else we should know?”
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So, we’ve got two liars on our hands: ProPublica/Jesse Eisinger and West Point. ProPublica fully intended to run with the lie, likely with visions of Pulitzers dancing in their heads; giving a subject — a person who’s up for one of the most important jobs in the world, no less — a mere one hour to respond is the very opposite of “real journalism.” Would it surprise you to learn that George Soros has donated a significant amount of money to this rag?
Journalism, ably abetted by dishonest brokers like ProPublic, has endured a long, tortuous death. Their attempt to bring down Pete Hegseth backfired spectacularly, and that will hopefully hasten their self-inflicted demise.