Bannon's War Room - Episode 4193： Bringing Warrior Ethos To Defense cont.

00:00:00.000 Thank you, Senator Shaheen. At this point, I would ask unanimous consent to enter into the record five letters of support from female service members and combat veterans who support Mr. Hegseth's nomination.

00:00:15.960 These women represent diverse viewpoints from a retired colonel with over 25 years of service to an active Navy surface warfare commander to a senior airman.

00:00:27.220 They support Mr. Hegseth and comment on his focus on merit, warfighting readiness, military training status, and the warrior ethos.

00:00:37.380 So without objection, it will be entered into the record.

00:00:41.860 And now I'm honored to recognize Senator Cotton for seven minutes.

00:00:49.220 Mr. Hegseth, let's continue on this line of questioning about what's sometimes referred to as women in combat.

00:00:55.300 I think that phrase is something of a misnomer.

00:00:58.480 Many members of this committee have served in combat in the last 25 years, to include women and men.

00:01:05.880 I'm sure all those men served with women, whether they were military police officers or they were pilots or whether they were intelligence analysts or medics or what have you.

00:01:15.880 You served. I assume you served with women who were on the front lines as well. Is that correct?

00:01:20.080 Yes, sir.

00:01:20.680 And were those women anything other than skilled, brave, and honorable in their service?

00:01:25.200 They were some of the best soldiers I worked with.

00:01:27.300 So women have been serving in combat for a long time. 0.97

00:01:29.240 And women have even been serving in combat units like infantry battalions for a long time, in roles like medics or mechanics or what have you. 0.95

00:01:36.340 So what we're talking about here specifically is women in ground combat roles in jobs like infantrymen or artillerymen or special forces. 0.99

00:01:46.800 Until about 10 years ago, that wasn't the case.

00:01:49.240 Under Secretary Panetta, those roles were opened up to women to serve in. 0.98

00:01:54.340 Has President Trump indicated at all that he plans to rescind or alter that guidance?

00:02:01.460 You're correct to point out, Senator, that these are the decisions...

00:02:04.320 What they do, let me just explain to you.

00:02:05.920 I should have done it earlier. I'm sorry.

00:02:07.380 He has not indicated to me that he has plans to change whether or not women would have access to these roles.

00:02:14.560 However, I would point out ensuring that standards are equal and high is of importance to him and great importance to me.

00:02:22.400 Because in those ground combat roles, what is true is that the weight of the ruck on your back doesn't change.

00:02:28.880 The weight of the 155 round that you have to carry doesn't change.

00:02:32.480 The weight of the 240 Bravo machine gun you might have to carry doesn't change.

00:02:37.000 And so whether it's a man or a woman, they have to meet the same high standards.

00:02:41.520 And Senator, in any place where those things have been eroded or in courses, criteria have been changed in order to meet quotas, racial quotas, or gender quotas, that is putting a focus on something other than readiness, standards, meritocracy, and lethality.

00:03:01.640 So that's the kind of review I'm talking about, not whether women have access to ground combat. 1.00

00:03:06.800 Okay. So thank you.

00:03:07.600 So you expect no change to that guidance.

00:03:09.540 But as you point out, in these specific jobs, there are irreducible physical demands.

00:03:16.880 We expect our intelligence analysts and our mechanics to be physically fit in the military.

00:03:22.120 But it's different when you're in the infantry or the artillery.

00:03:24.580 You just mentioned a few things.

00:03:25.480 Let me point it out.

00:03:26.240 Now, an artillery shell weighs almost 100 pounds.

00:03:29.800 An Abrams tank round weighs around 50 pounds.

00:03:33.100 The M240 Bravo machine gun with its tripod weighs almost 50 pounds.

00:03:37.980 The average weight of a full kit, ammo, water, commo, body armor for a soldier is over 100 pounds.

00:03:47.280 Nothing you can do that can change any of those things, right?

00:03:50.120 That is physical reality.

00:03:53.200 Go ahead.

00:03:54.040 Yes, Senator.

00:03:54.460 And I would say the requirements to handle those things in a ground combat unit, as far

00:04:00.120 as standards, can look different than those of a medic or a drone pilot.

00:04:04.540 And so it's not that it has to be the same standard throughout.

00:04:07.080 It's standards to maximize efficacy of that particular position.

00:04:10.980 Let me read a quote here from one Army officer.

00:04:14.500 While it may be difficult for a 120-pound woman to lift or drag 250 pounds, the Army cannot artificially 1.00

00:04:20.800 absolve women of that responsibility. 0.99

00:04:23.040 It may still exist on the battlefield.

00:04:24.700 The entire purpose of creating a gender-neutral test was to acknowledge the reality that each

00:04:30.920 job has objective physical standards to which all soldiers should be held, regardless of gender.

00:04:37.900 The intent was not to ensure that women and men will have an equal likelihood of meeting

00:04:43.540 those standards.

00:04:44.140 I assume, based on your testimony, you agree with that Army officer?

00:04:49.160 Absolutely.

00:04:50.140 The standards need to be the same, and they need to be high.

00:04:53.040 And they need to be set by the people closest to the problem set, closest to the understanding

00:04:58.080 of what is required by that job.

00:05:00.460 Commanders, commanding officers, and co-coms and elsewhere who understand the reality of what

00:05:03.940 they face, that's the feedback we should get.

00:05:06.100 That's what should be enshrined and enforced.

00:05:07.920 And no other set of political prerogatives, when I talk about removing politics, ideological

00:05:13.140 or political prerogatives should contribute to those determinations.

00:05:16.840 Nothing other than the execution of the mission.

00:05:20.000 Thank you.

00:05:20.860 For the record, that Army officer was Captain Kristen Greist, the Army's first female infantry

00:05:26.760 officer and one of its first female Ranger School graduates.

00:05:30.200 One final point, you said they need to be objective, gender neutral, and high. 0.83

00:05:34.980 That's because the demands are, in fact, very high.

00:05:39.300 The current physical fitness test for the Army has a minimum two-mile run of 22 miles.

00:05:45.120 Run.

00:05:47.020 And I want the reporter to note that I'm putting run in air quotes, because 22 miles at two miles

00:05:53.040 is not running.

00:05:53.820 It may be jogging.

00:05:54.840 It's probably walking fast.

00:05:57.660 Let's move on.

00:06:00.200 We've got a big—22 minutes.

00:06:04.360 Thank you.

00:06:06.120 We've got a big audience here.

00:06:08.220 Many of them seem to be patriotic supporters of you, Mr. Hexeth.

00:06:12.160 Some of them seem to be liberal critics of you.

00:06:14.280 I would note that it's only the liberal critics that have disrupted this hearing.

00:06:19.200 As was my custom during the Biden administration, I want to give you a chance to respond to what

00:06:25.360 they said about you.

00:06:25.920 I think the first one accused you of being a Christian Zionist.

00:06:30.520 I'm not really sure why that is a bad thing.

00:06:33.260 I'm a Christian.

00:06:33.960 I'm a Zionist.

00:06:34.900 Zionism is that the Jewish people deserve a homeland in the ancient holy land where they've

00:06:42.640 lived since the dawn of history.

00:06:44.080 Do you consider yourself a Christian Zionist?

00:06:46.680 Senator, I support—I am a Christian, and I robustly support the state of Israel and

00:06:51.740 its existential defense and the way America comes alongside them is their great ally.

00:06:56.220 Thank you.

00:06:56.600 Because another protester, and I think this one was a member of Code Pink, which, by the

00:07:00.320 way, is a Chinese communist front group these days, said that you support Israel's war in

00:07:07.120 Gaza.

00:07:08.240 I support Israel's existential war in Gaza. 0.99

00:07:11.320 I assume, like me and President Trump, you support that war as well, don't you? 0.73

00:07:15.220 Senator, I do. 0.99

00:07:16.180 I support Israel destroying and killing every last member of Hamas. 0.89

00:07:21.400 And the third protester said something about 20 years of genocide. 0.93

00:07:25.580 I assume that's our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

00:07:27.780 Do you think our troops are committing genocide in Iraq and Afghanistan?

00:07:31.080 Senator, I do not.

00:07:31.880 I think our troops, as you know, as so many in this committee know, did the best they could

00:07:37.420 with what they had.

00:07:38.520 We're not—the outcomes, and tragically, the outcome we saw in Afghanistan under the Biden

00:07:42.980 administration put a stain on that, but it doesn't put a stain on what those men and

00:07:47.080 women did in uniform, as you know full well, Senator. 1.00

00:07:50.120 Thank you, Mr. Hegseth.

00:07:52.480 Thank you, Senator Cotton.

00:07:53.780 At this point, I ask unanimous consent to offer to the record a letter submitted by Omar Abassi,

00:08:02.500 son of former city council president of Samara, Iraq, who worked with Mr. Hegseth in Iraq.

00:08:10.800 Without objection, that will be entered.

00:08:12.780 Senator Gillibrand.

00:08:14.320 Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

00:08:16.380 Thank you, Mr. Hegseth.

00:08:17.700 I do want to thank you for your service.

00:08:19.540 And I want to thank you for your willingness to serve in this capacity.

00:08:23.520 Thank you, Senator.

00:08:24.480 I have many concerns about your record, and particularly your public statements, because

00:08:29.660 they are so hurtful to the men and women who are currently serving in the U.S. military.

00:08:36.420 Harmful to morale.

00:08:38.200 Harmful to good order and discipline.

00:08:39.820 If you are saying that women shouldn't be serving in the military, and I'm going to read you your 1.00

00:08:44.960 quotes, because the quotes themselves are terrible.

00:08:48.560 You will have to change how you see women to do this job well, and I don't know if you 1.00

00:08:53.680 are capable of that.

00:08:54.700 So I want to press on these issues that my colleague, Jean Shaheen, brought up, because

00:08:58.980 she said it so well.

00:09:00.180 So, first of all, you answered your questionnaire, do you believe that any American who wants

00:09:05.860 to serve their country in the military and can meet objective standards set by the military

00:09:10.820 should be allowed to serve without limitation?

00:09:12.760 You've said yes to that question.

00:09:14.800 But then in all of these other circumstances, you've denigrated active duty service members.

00:09:19.700 We have hundreds, hundreds of women who are currently in the infantry, lethal members of our military 1.00

00:09:27.680 serving in the infantry.

00:09:29.080 But you degrade them.

00:09:30.600 You say, we need moms, but not in the military, especially in combat units.

00:09:36.740 So specific to Senator Cotton's question, because Senator Cotton was giving you layups to differentiate

00:09:42.740 between different types of combat.

00:09:44.700 And specifically, as secretary, would you take any action to reinstitute the combat arms

00:09:51.760 exclusion for female service members, knowing full well you have hundreds of women doing 0.99

00:09:56.700 that job right now?

00:09:58.180 And the standards, your two-mile run, Tom, is about the Army combat fitness test.

00:10:05.260 It is not the requirements to have an MOS 11 Bravo, which is the infantry.

00:10:10.540 These are the requirements today for people serving in the industry, men and women.

00:10:16.000 They are gender neutral, and they are very difficult to meet. 1.00

00:10:19.780 They have not been reduced in any way.

00:10:22.740 And our combat units, our infantry, is lethal.

00:10:27.780 So please explain specifically, because you will be in charge of three million personnel.

00:10:33.940 It is a big job.

00:10:35.400 And when you make these public statements, and I get you were not secretary of defense then.

00:10:40.140 I get you were on TV.

00:10:41.720 I get you were helping veterans.

00:10:43.120 I get it was a different job.

00:10:44.640 But most recently, you said this in November of 2024, knowing full well you might have been

00:10:49.360 named as secretary of defense.

00:10:52.040 So please explain these types of statements, because they're brutal, and they're mean, and

00:10:58.160 they disrespect men and women who are willing to die for this country.

00:11:01.660 Well, Senator, I appreciate your comments, and I would point out I've never disparaged women

00:11:09.220 serving in the military.

00:11:10.620 I respect every single female service member that has put on the uniform past and present.

00:11:16.720 My critiques, Senator, recently and in the past, and from personal experience, have been

00:11:21.680 instances where I've seen standards lowered.

00:11:24.660 And you mentioned 11 Alpha, 11 Bravo, MOS, places in units.

00:11:30.040 And the book that has been referenced multiple times here, The War on Warriors, I spent months

00:11:35.940 talking to active duty service members, men and women, low ranks, high ranks, combat arms

00:11:42.240 and not combat arms.

00:11:43.240 And what each and every one of them told me, and which personal instances have shown me,

00:11:47.820 is that in ways direct, indirect, overt, and subtle, standards have been changed inside

00:11:56.260 infantry training units, ranger school, infantry battalions, to ensure that commanders meet...

00:12:02.420 Give me one example.

00:12:03.420 Please give me an example.

00:12:04.560 I get you're making these generalized statements.

00:12:06.600 Commanders meet quotas to have a certain number of female infantry officers or infantry enlisted, 1.00

00:12:11.820 and that disparages those women who are incredibly capable of meeting that standard. 1.00

00:12:17.000 Commanders, do not have to have a quota for women in the infantry.

00:12:20.720 That does not exist.

00:12:22.160 It does not exist.

00:12:23.480 And your statements are creating the impression that these exist, because they do not.

00:12:28.400 There are not quotas.

00:12:29.340 We want the most lethal force.

00:12:31.440 But I'm telling you, having been here for 15 years, listening to testimony about men and

00:12:37.040 women in combat and the type of operations that were successful in Afghanistan and in Iraq,

00:12:42.180 women were essential for many of those units. 0.97

00:12:44.320 When ranger units went in to find where the terrorists are hiding in Afghanistan or in

00:12:49.200 Iraq, if they had a woman in the unit, they could go in, talk to the women in a village, 0.67

00:12:54.840 say, where are the terrorists hiding?

00:12:56.480 Where are the weapons hiding?

00:12:57.700 And get crucial information to make sure that we can win that battle.

00:13:03.760 So just, you cannot denigrate women in general.

00:13:06.720 And your statements do that.

00:13:08.340 We don't want women in the military, especially in combat. 1.00

00:13:10.960 What a terrible statement.

00:13:13.300 So please, do not deny that you've made those statements you have.

00:13:17.020 We take the responsibility of standards very seriously.

00:13:20.580 And we will work with you.

00:13:21.580 I'm equally distressed.

00:13:23.100 You would not meet with me before this hearing.

00:13:25.100 We could have covered all of this before you came here.

00:13:28.280 So I could get to the 15 other questions that I want to get to.

00:13:31.300 So women, you have denigrated. 0.97

00:13:33.340 You have also denigrated members of the LGBTQ community.

00:13:36.740 Did you know that when Don't Ask, Don't Tell was in place, we lost so many crucial personnel,

00:13:42.760 over 1,000 in mission-critical areas.

00:13:45.260 We lost 10% of all our foreign language speakers because of a political policy.

00:13:50.780 You said in your statement, you don't want politics in the DOD.

00:13:54.740 Everything you've said in these public statements is politics.

00:13:57.600 I don't want women. 1.00

00:13:58.580 I don't want moms. 1.00

00:13:59.360 What's wrong with a mom, by the way? 1.00

00:14:01.160 Once you have babies, you therefore are no longer able to be lethal?

00:14:04.440 I mean, you're basically saying women, after they have children, can't ever serve in the

00:14:08.260 military in a combat role. 0.80

00:14:09.440 It's a silly thing to say.

00:14:11.520 It's a silly thing to say beneath the position that you are aspiring to. 0.86

00:14:16.140 To denigrate LGBTQ service members is a mistake. 0.94

00:14:20.060 If you are a sharpshooter, you're as lethal, regardless of what your gender identity is,

00:14:24.540 regardless of who you love.

00:14:25.960 So please know this to be a true statement.

00:14:28.520 So you say it was a political thing.

00:14:31.620 You say it undermined us.

00:14:34.760 Social engineering.

00:14:36.060 I don't know why someone having to publicly say or not publicly say who they love is social

00:14:43.720 engineering.

00:14:44.560 I think having that policy in the first place was highly problematic.

00:14:47.720 And as you said in your statement, do you agree?

00:14:51.340 Anybody should be able to serve in the military if they meet the standards.

00:14:54.260 Big victory on 5 November.

00:14:56.540 Now the work can finally start on the big issues facing the country.

00:15:00.020 One of the biggest is the national debt and the deficits that drive it.

00:15:05.040 Hey, you think the country's broke?

00:15:06.600 The country is broke.

00:15:07.620 We're just printing money to keep this house of cards going.

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00:16:15.580 Senator, as the president has stated, I don't disagree with the overturn of Don't Ask, Don't

00:16:22.100 Tell.

00:16:23.520 Great.

00:16:24.280 Because I don't want you thinking, can't serve if you're a mom, can't serve if you're LGBTQ, 0.77

00:16:29.080 and then last, can't serve if you're a leftist.

00:16:31.740 The statements you said about people who have views differently than you, that we're the

00:16:37.360 enemy.

00:16:37.940 Are you saying that 50% of the DOD, if they hold liberal views or leftist views or are

00:16:43.180 Democrats, are not welcome in the military?

00:16:46.700 Are you saying that?

00:16:48.260 Senator, I volunteered to deploy to Afghanistan under Democrat President Barack Obama.

00:16:53.200 I also volunteered to guard the inauguration of Joe Biden, but was denied the opportunity

00:16:58.500 to serve because I was identified as an extremist by my own unit for a Christian tattoo.

00:17:03.440 Thank you very much.

00:17:06.780 Senator Gillibrand, you held up a document and referred to it during your questioning.

00:17:14.980 Would you like that entered into the record?

00:17:16.900 It may be one without my marks.

00:17:18.780 Okay.

00:17:19.780 We'll delete.

00:17:20.720 We'll submit a clean copy.

00:17:21.880 Without objection, that will be admitted at the point of your question, and I would like

00:17:27.620 to enter into the record at this point a letter of support from retired Air Force Colonel Melissa

00:17:33.000 Cunningham.

00:17:34.280 Colonel Cunningham supports Mr. Hexeth and mentions his warrior ethos, combat effectiveness,

00:17:40.540 and maintaining military training standards.

00:17:43.380 So without objection, both of those will be admitted, and I now recognize them to rounds.

00:17:48.100 Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

00:17:50.480 First of all, good morning.

00:17:52.280 I'd like to thank you for your service to our nation in uniform and also your work on

00:17:57.580 behalf of your fellow veterans and for your willingness to enter into this maelstrom of

00:18:02.660 public service.

00:18:04.180 I think the presence of so many veterans who have showed up to support you speaks volumes.

00:18:09.840 I also want to recognize your family service and sacrifice.

00:18:12.460 You know as well as anyone that it's not just the man that enters the arena, but it's the

00:18:18.180 entire family who also works their way through this process as well.

00:18:23.900 I appreciated our meeting with you and with your wife, Jennifer, this last month.

00:18:30.460 I thought that we had an excellent conversation.

00:18:32.480 That's Senator Mike Rounds, Republican.

00:18:36.480 I'm going to try to focus more on the Democrats.

00:18:39.100 I was going to say that the Republicans are going to ask, Cotton was great because Cotton

00:18:45.620 got down to a lot of these are going to be, I'm not saying supportive, but to make Pete's

00:18:50.080 case, we know what Pete stands for.

00:18:52.660 We support Pete Hegseth.

00:18:54.000 I know the audience does.

00:18:54.880 What I want to do is really contrast the Democrats.

00:18:58.960 Captain Bannon, Maureen Bannon is actually in the audience.

00:19:01.380 I think she's tweeting out.

00:19:02.460 And she texted me about Gillibrand.

00:19:07.340 That was Senator Kristen Gillibrand of New York.

00:19:11.400 Now, the importance of Gillibrand, Gillibrand has set up and quite frankly, some Republicans

00:19:16.700 backed it up.

00:19:17.540 I think Ted Cruz, something I adamantly opposed.

00:19:20.040 And it was for these sexual issues.

00:19:22.880 I don't know, sexual assault.

00:19:24.800 It's kind of the Me Too movement.

00:19:25.640 And they wanted another chain of command than the UCMJ, the military code of justice, a

00:19:33.280 chain of command, using your chain of command to work through any issue.

00:19:36.400 They wanted to set up a separate one just for these issues of the Me Too movement.

00:19:43.160 And I'm not trying to downplay that.

00:19:45.320 Those are very serious.

00:19:46.320 But I've said from day one, you've got to go through a unified command of a command structure

00:19:50.920 and use that command structure.

00:19:53.000 If you set up what Gillibrand was talking about, what a lot of these Democratic, particularly

00:19:58.120 Democratic females on the Armed Services Committee want, is they've set up essentially what is 1.00

00:20:04.120 in the Soviet Army, what's in the Chinese Communist Party Army.

00:20:07.620 The first thing the Bolsheviks did, the first thing Mao did, is in the military, set up political 0.76

00:20:13.080 commissars.

00:20:14.460 Political commissars would be outside of the military chain of command, but would essentially

00:20:18.860 run it because the political ideology of the Marxists, the political ideology of the Bolsheviks

00:20:27.180 and the Chinese Communist Party overrode everything else.

00:20:30.360 And this is why those two militaries went through massive show trials, purges, persecutions, etc.

00:20:39.620 And then also at the lower ranks, it was never really the effectiveness of the troops itself,

00:20:45.580 but it was always some political issue.

00:20:47.600 So, you know, I've always been adamantly opposed to going outside of the military chain of command,

00:20:52.380 but that's where you see Gillibrand.

00:20:53.640 And she's coming, I mean, they're coming hard at Pete Hegseth.

00:20:56.920 Pete Hegseth right now is giving as good as he gets.

00:21:00.540 I would actually say he's giving better than he gets, but it's pretty intense.

00:21:04.600 And folks have to understand, this is going to be all the way through, I think, 8 or 9 o'clock

00:21:08.400 tonight, particularly if a Senator Wicker, and it's very important for Wicker to hold his ground.

00:21:14.660 Pete Hegseth, it should be one day, they get all their questions asked, they have to go back.

00:21:18.760 Just so folks understand, it's seven minutes of question each.

00:21:22.340 You go to Republican and then Democrat, Republican, Democrat, and I believe the way it goes

00:21:26.740 is through seniority.

00:21:28.840 So it should be.

00:21:29.780 They may change it up depending on what the chairman of the committee or the way the two parties

00:21:35.740 want to have their folks in the committee.

00:21:38.740 Just once again, when you go to these confirmation hearings, you go before the committee of jurisdiction.

00:21:45.880 The committee of jurisdiction is what you report to as a cabinet official in the separation

00:21:51.860 of powers with the legislative branch having, you know, being a co-equal partner with the

00:21:58.000 executive.

00:21:59.120 The executive gets to choose who wants to be in the cabinet.

00:22:03.140 There's 1,000 Senate confirmed.

00:22:04.780 The Senate is what I call the Human Resources Department.

00:22:07.440 You have advice and consent in the Constitution.

00:22:10.400 It's normally, only under extraordinary circumstances is it withheld.

00:22:16.780 General Austin, who's obviously been a complete disaster, I think had 97 votes when he was

00:22:22.240 approved.

00:22:23.160 The Democrats are already saying that Pete Hegseth is not going to get a Democratic vote, although

00:22:27.000 maybe Fetterman may be out there.

00:22:29.420 That's where this hearing today is so important about the intensity of what the Democrats come

00:22:34.120 to.

00:22:34.240 Plus, they're setting a tone of how they're going to deal with the Trump administration.

00:22:41.120 And folks, I hope you're seeing it right now.

00:22:43.040 It's not going to be, they're going to be full attack mode.

00:22:45.980 We had Rob Blewey on the show last night in the six o'clock hour, and I hope Grace and

00:22:51.780 Kerry Donovan and others, Jane Zirkle, get the Rob Blewey interview I did and make sure

00:22:57.860 everybody sees it.

00:22:59.440 Blewey had this, he's over at Daily Signal.

00:23:01.700 They had a poll taken, 50% of the administrative state in the deep state, 50% of bureaucrats paid

00:23:08.820 by taxpayers, say they're going to be in full resistance to President Trump.

00:23:13.360 And you're seeing today, when they look and look at this hearing, and they see Democratic

00:23:18.260 senators, particularly like Kirsten Gillibrand, going after full-on attack mode to Pete Hegseth,

00:23:24.960 they're going to take the signal from those folks that this is okay to confront the leaders

00:23:32.540 of the different cabinet departments.

00:23:33.880 Remember, this will lead to leaks, this will lead to people just not following the directors

00:23:38.880 the president have taken.

00:23:39.900 This goes back to days of thunder next week, when President Trump signs these, let's say

00:23:44.560 50 executive orders in his very first, they've set aside time in the afternoon.

00:23:49.440 Let's say it takes an hour or so to sign these executive orders.

00:23:52.520 The executive orders are only good enough as you can force it through the system and make

00:23:56.980 the system actually apply it.

00:23:58.620 And you're seeing right now, the apparatus is going to take the lead of the Democrats

00:24:04.120 and saying, hey, it's fine to resist President Trump.

00:24:09.860 The Democrats right now, if you look at that testimony, that is not sitting there trying

00:24:14.780 to actually get to any understanding of Pete Hegseth or Pete Hegseth's thinking, right?

00:24:20.900 That is full attack mode to go on the record to be cut into a 30-second clip for a TV advertisement.

00:24:29.260 This is a full-on political assault by the heritans on the House Armed Services or the Senate 1.00

00:24:36.040 Armed Services Committee.

00:24:37.480 For those of you that didn't get to, that didn't watch last night, Rachel Maddow was back

00:24:42.560 and announced that starting next Monday, she's going to be there for 100 days.

00:24:46.640 This morning, I think it was Rashida Jones was fired or essentially stepped down, was fired 0.99

00:24:51.840 by MSNBC as they're going to go in full attack mode.

00:24:54.800 Rachel Maddow last night gave a 28-minute open that took on the Trump transition and says

00:25:01.200 it's the worst in history.

00:25:02.200 But my point is people should watch it.

00:25:04.500 Maybe we pull the whole clip and play it, put it up on our site so people can see it.

00:25:08.400 She is in full attack mode, full attack mode.

00:25:12.360 Folks that think this is going to be easy for President Trump with all these issues that

00:25:16.080 are up there, understand it is not going to be easy.

00:25:18.480 It is going to be full attack mode every day, and you're seeing it right now.

00:25:21.780 This is why today we're taking so much time, and I want to thank Real America's Voice,

00:25:26.260 Robin Parker-Sig, for letting us go.

00:25:29.320 We're going to go back now to the hearing.

00:25:30.800 Now it's a Democrat.

00:25:31.600 Let's go right back to the hearing and hear this.

00:25:33.200 Appreciate and respect for your service to our country, and thanks to all the veterans

00:25:37.960 who are here today, and thank you for your service as the ranking member of the Veterans

00:25:43.740 Affairs Committee.

00:25:44.360 I hope we can focus on doing better for our veterans and doing better in management of

00:25:53.320 the Department of Defense.

00:25:55.020 There's always room for improvement.

00:25:56.740 I think what we need in that position is not just better, but the best in financial management,

00:26:05.280 because those decisions are life and death decisions affecting the 3.4 million Americans

00:26:11.600 who serve our national security and our national defense and put their lives on the line.

00:26:18.420 I want to talk about financial mismanagement at the two organizations that you headed,

00:26:25.080 which are the only test of your financial management that we have before this committee,

00:26:32.380 the Veterans for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America.

00:26:36.220 You took over the Veterans for Freedom in 2007.

00:26:41.640 In 2008, you raised $8.7 million, but spent more than $9 million, creating a deficit.

00:26:50.000 By January 2009, you told donors that the organization had less than $1,000 in the bank and debts

00:27:01.300 of $434,000.

00:27:05.000 By 2010, revenue at the Veterans for Freedom had dropped to about $265,000.

00:27:14.260 In the next year, it had dropped further to $22,000.

00:27:18.400 It's obvious.

00:27:19.740 The unthinkable continues.

00:27:21.360 Most Americans know something is very, very wrong.

00:27:25.720 The people in charge keep telling you that everything's fine and to stop noticing.

00:27:29.720 But you know better.

00:27:31.220 That's why self-reliant folks are investing in emergency food storage. 1.00

00:27:36.140 And you should, too.

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00:27:41.700 are the ones you can trust.

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00:27:48.580 Each contains tasty breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, averaging over 2,000 calories per day.

00:27:54.920 My Patriots Supply also sells solar generators, gravity-powered water filters,

00:27:59.540 off-grid room heaters for when the power goes out.

00:28:03.420 They also sell heirloom seeds and survival gear.

00:28:06.320 Order by 3 p.m. and your items shipped that same day

00:28:09.640 and arrive quickly on your doorstep in unmarked boxes.

00:28:13.480 Go to MyPatriotsSupply.com today.

00:28:16.260 Hope is not a plan.

00:28:18.400 My Patriots Supply is a plan.

00:28:21.120 Time is running out to prepare for what's coming.

00:28:24.660 MyPatriotsSupply.com.

00:28:26.520 Go there today.

00:28:27.580 Action, action, action.

00:28:29.780 $2,000?

00:28:30.980 You don't dispute these numbers, do you?

00:28:32.880 Senator, I'm extremely proud of the work me and my fellow vets did at Vets for Freedom.

00:28:41.660 A bunch of young vets with no political experience, a small group, working hard every single day.

00:28:49.880 We raised donor funds.

00:28:53.100 And we have letters submitted for the record from almost everyone that worked with me every single day,

00:28:58.120 including our chief operating officer, who will attest that every dollar we raised was used intentionally

00:29:03.940 toward the execution of our mission, which is supporting the warfighters.

00:29:09.080 Exactly why we're here today.

00:29:10.380 The warfighters in the Iraq surge.

00:29:12.860 There was a campaign in 2008, Senator.

00:29:15.180 It was Barack Obama versus John McCain.

00:29:16.520 If I can just ask you another question.

00:29:17.860 We believe John McCain would be the right person to win.

00:29:19.780 The tax returns from that organization, which I am going to ask to be entered into the record, Mr. Chairman.

00:29:28.100 Without objection.

00:29:29.540 These tax returns are yours.

00:29:32.800 They have your signature.

00:29:35.140 And I'm going to ask that members of the committee review them because they're the only documents.

00:29:41.200 I've asked for others.

00:29:42.260 I've asked for the FBI report that would presumably document, it should have documented, this kind of financial mismanagement.

00:29:52.680 And these are the 990s from that organization.

00:29:59.380 By the year of 2011, donors had become so dissatisfied with that mismanagement, they, in effect, ousted you.

00:30:08.840 They merged that organization with Military Families United.

00:30:14.720 And thereafter, you joined a second organization as executive director.

00:30:20.360 In between, Senator, I went to Harvard University for two years and Afghanistan.

00:30:24.720 I want to ask you questions about Concerned Veterans for America.

00:30:27.820 Again, another set of tax returns.

00:30:30.620 The 990s from that organization, I ask they be made part of the record, Mr. Chairman.

00:30:35.340 Without objection, both of those returns are now part of the record.

00:30:39.840 2011 to 2016.

00:30:43.560 At the end of 2013, shortfall of $130,000.

00:30:48.160 At the end of 2014, shortfall of $428,000.

00:30:53.020 You had a surplus the following year, but then another deficit of $437,000.

00:30:59.860 By the time you left, that organization had deep debts, including credit card transaction debts of about $75,000.

00:31:10.540 That isn't the kind of fiscal management we want at the Department of Defense.

00:31:15.460 We can't tolerate it at the Department of Defense.

00:31:19.300 That's an organization with a budget of $850 billion, not $10 or $15 million, which was the case at those two organizations.

00:31:32.240 And it has command responsibility for $3.4 million Americans.

00:31:39.280 The highest number that you managed in those two organizations was maybe 50 people.

00:31:46.120 Let me ask you, how many men and women now serve in the United States Army?

00:31:53.040 What is SEND's strength?

00:31:55.420 Senator, I would have liked an opportunity to respond to the impuning of my leadership of a veterans organization.

00:32:02.280 How many men and women currently serve?

00:32:03.100 You're on the VA committee, sir, and I appreciate your service there.

00:32:07.560 The VA Accountability Act and the Mission Act were all brainchilds of concerned veterans for America.

00:32:14.820 We used our donor money very intentionally and focused to create policy that bettered the lives of veterans.

00:32:21.580 Mr. Hexeth, I'm asking you a very simple question.

00:32:26.120 How many men and women currently serve in the United States Army?

00:32:30.000 Senator, in the United States Army, $450,000 on active duty, sir.

00:32:34.020 And how many in the Navy?

00:32:37.060 In the Navy, it's $425,000, sir.

00:32:39.620 Well, it's $337,000 this year.

00:32:42.100 How many in the Marine Corps?

00:32:43.700 $175,000, sir.

00:32:46.520 $172,300.

00:32:49.040 Those numbers dwarf any experience you had by many multiples.

00:32:56.700 I don't believe that you can tell this committee or the people of America that you are qualified to lead them.

00:33:06.400 I would support you as the spokesperson for the Pentagon.

00:33:13.480 I don't dispute your communication skills.

00:33:15.860 But I believe that we are entitled to the facts here.

00:33:20.960 I've asked for more documents.

00:33:22.320 I assume you'd be willing to submit to an expanded FBI background check that interviews your colleagues, accountants, ex-wives, former spouses, sexual assault survivors, and others, and enable them to come forward.

00:33:39.640 Senator, I'm not in charge of FBI background checks.

00:33:43.760 But you would submit to it and support it?

00:33:47.620 I'm not in charge of FBI background checks.

00:33:50.040 Thank you, Senator Blumenthal.

00:33:51.900 I, at this point, want to submit a letter from Captain Wade Zirkle, the founder of Vets for Freedom, and the person who hired Pete Hexeth to run the organization.

00:34:03.980 Blumenthal, Connecticut, right there doing the questioning, is guilty of stolen valor.

00:34:09.480 He was the one that lied for years.

00:34:10.880 This is the type of quality of dirtbags you have on the Democratic side. 0.83

00:34:15.260 He claimed for years, I think he was a Green Beret medic or something.

00:34:19.740 They had service action in Vietnam.

00:34:21.220 He's been proven a liar.

00:34:22.840 And this is who the Democrats put on the Armed Services Committee.

00:34:27.200 Blumenthal has no credibility, has no credibility whatsoever with any service member. 1.00

00:34:31.440 They think that guy's a scumbag. 0.99

00:34:33.840 So right there, do you see the questioning of Pete Hexeth? 0.99

00:34:37.580 They're trying to get – so remember, the questioning on both sides is highly organized and highly thought through.

00:34:43.820 Both sides have their staffs get together, and they go through the kind of narratives that they want to push.

00:34:50.140 And that's also from the opening statements.

00:34:54.200 The opening statement from Jack Reed, the Democrat, was on before we started.

00:35:01.300 And by the way, I think it's Blackburn.

00:35:04.100 Joni, oh, let's go to – we've got to go to Joni.

00:35:05.800 Let's cut back life.

00:35:07.200 And in his letter, Mr. Lucas says that Mr. Hexeth, quote, laid a strong foundation that postured CVA for long-term success, end quote.

00:35:18.360 And that Mr. Hexeth, quote, continued to be an invaluable asset to both me as a leader and the organization, end quote.

00:35:26.340 So I would ask for unanimous consent to enter this Washington Times article and the letter from Mr. Mark Lucas into the record.

00:35:35.020 Without objection.

00:35:36.340 Okay.

00:35:36.600 Thank you, Mr. Chair.

00:35:38.340 Good morning, Mr. Hexeth.

00:35:40.260 And thank you very much.

00:35:42.300 I appreciate your service to our nation.

00:35:45.240 It's something that I know you are very proud of, and it is something that we have in common and that we share.

00:35:53.400 You and I have had many productive conversations.

00:35:59.580 And just for our audience, we have had very frank conversations.

00:36:05.600 Is that correct, Mr. Hexeth?

00:36:07.860 Senator, that is a correct characterization.

00:36:09.400 You know that I don't keep anything hidden, pull no punches.

00:36:16.300 My colleagues know that as well.

00:36:18.820 So I do appreciate you sitting down and allowing me the opportunity to question you thoroughly on those issues that are of great importance to me.

00:36:28.160 Just to recap those issues, three that are very important.

00:36:32.700 One is the DOD and making sure that we have a clean audit.

00:36:37.460 The second is women in combat, and we'll talk a little bit more about that in a moment.

00:36:45.980 And the third was maintaining high standards and making sure that we are combating sexual assault in the military.

00:36:54.840 Okay.

00:36:55.180 So, Mr. Hexeth, I'm going to address the issue because this will tie into some of the financial concerns that have been raised here as well.

00:37:03.860 And it's why, you know, I, trusting my fellow Iowan, asked for unanimous consent of his letter to go into the record.

00:37:12.280 But like me, a lot of Iowans are really, really concerned and upset about the wasteful Washington spending and, of course, in our Pentagon.

00:37:22.780 It's an issue that I have been combating for years.

00:37:25.640 So, there's significant room for greater efficiency and cost-cutting within the department.

00:37:31.720 And the DOD is the only federal agency that has never passed an audit.

00:37:39.240 As the Senate Doge Caucus Chair and Founder, that's unacceptable to me.

00:37:44.540 And it should be unacceptable to you as well.

00:37:47.740 So, I appreciate that you mentioned that in your opening statement.

00:37:51.360 What are those steps that you will take to ensuring the Pentagon has a clean audit by the year 2028?

00:37:59.280 Senator, I appreciate your work on this topic, which you've been involved in for a long time.

00:38:04.140 You mentioned Concerned Veterans for America.

00:38:07.400 I just want to clarify, we have very generous donors who set a very clear budget that we stuck to every single year.

00:38:14.060 So, the latitude there was restricted and we worked very hard and diligently inside it.

00:38:18.720 You've also been a leader on the Pentagon audit for a very long time.

00:38:22.640 I think when we met, Senator, I said 2014 was the first year.

00:38:26.100 We discovered a 2013 op-ed I wrote about the need for a Pentagon audit because an audit is an issue of national security.

00:38:33.920 And, frankly, respect to American taxpayers who give $850 billion over to the Defense Department and expect that we know where that money goes.

00:38:44.240 And if that money is going somewhere that doesn't add to tooth and instead goes to fat or tail, we need to know that.

00:38:50.940 Or if it's wasted, we need to know that.

00:38:52.540 So, I think previous Secretaries of Defense, with all due respect, haven't necessarily emphasized the strategic prerogative of an audit.

00:39:02.060 And myself, my deputy, SecDef, and others already know that a Pentagon audit will be the comptroller, others central to ensuring we find those dollars that can be used elsewhere legally under the law inside the Pentagon.

00:39:16.680 So, you have my word it will be a priority.

00:39:18.680 Okay.

00:39:19.020 Thank you.

00:39:19.620 Okay.

00:39:20.280 Moving on to women in combat. 0.92

00:39:23.100 And I had the privilege of serving in uniform for over 23 years between our Army Reserves and our Iowa Army National Guard.

00:39:31.840 I did serve in Kuwait and missions in Iraq.

00:39:36.060 And so, it is incredibly important that I stress, and I hope that if confirmed, you continue to stress, that every man and woman has opportunity to serve their country in uniform and do so at any level as long as they are meeting the standards that are set forward.

00:40:01.080 And we talked about that in my office.

00:40:04.040 I do believe in high standards.

00:40:07.060 Now, I was denied the opportunity to serve in any combat role because I have a lot of gray hair.

00:40:17.820 And the policy has changed since then, okay?

00:40:20.800 So, I've been around for quite a while.

00:40:23.460 But for the young women that are out there now and can meet those standards, and again, I'll emphasize, they should be very, very high standards.

00:40:33.460 They must physically be able to achieve those standards so that they can complete their mission.

00:40:41.280 But I want to know, again, let's make it very clear for everyone here today.

00:40:47.260 As Secretary of Defense, will you support women continuing to have the opportunity to serve in combat roles?

00:40:54.940 Senator, first of all, thank you for your service, as we discussed extensively as well.

00:41:00.340 It's my privilege.

00:41:01.700 And my answer is yes, exactly the way that you caveated it.

00:41:06.080 Yes, women will have access to ground combat roles, combat roles, given the standards remain high, and we'll have a review to ensure the standards have not been eroded in any one of these cases. 0.80

00:41:19.500 That will be part of one of the first things we do at the Pentagon is reviewing that in a gender-neutral way, the standards, ensuring readiness and meritocracy is front and center.

00:41:30.040 But absolutely, it would be the privilege of a lifetime, if confirmed, to be the Secretary of Defense for all men and women in uniform who fight so heroic.

00:41:40.440 They have so many other options.

00:41:42.340 They decide to put their right hand up for our country, and it would be an honor to have a chance to lead them.

00:41:47.280 Thank you.

00:41:47.820 And just very briefly, we only have less than a minute left, but we have also discussed this in my office.

00:41:54.640 A priority of mine has been combating sexual assault in the military and making sure that all of our service members are treated with dignity and respect.

00:42:05.940 This has been so important.

00:42:10.220 Senator Gillibrand and I have worked on this, and we were able to get changes made to the Uniform Code of Military Justice to make sure that we have improvements on how we address the tragic and life-altering issues of rape, sexual assault.

00:42:31.080 It will demand time and attention from the Pentagon under your watch if you are confirmed.

00:42:37.380 So, as Secretary of Defense, will you appoint a senior-level official dedicated to sexual assault prevention and response?

00:42:45.320 Senator, as we have discussed, yes, I will.

00:42:48.780 Okay, and my time has expired.

00:42:50.800 Thank you for your answers.

00:42:52.580 Senator Hirono.

00:42:54.080 Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

00:42:55.980 Mr. Hagsack, welcome.

00:42:58.500 Thank you.

00:42:58.960 I am focused on your fitness to serve, including your character and temperament and your overall qualifications to do the job.

00:43:08.300 And I do appreciate the comments of Ranking Member Reed with his concerns regarding your nomination because I share those concerns.

00:43:17.900 As part of my responsibility as a member of this committee to ensure the fitness of all nominees to come before any of the committees on which I sit,

00:43:25.680 I ask the following two initial questions.

00:43:28.560 First, since you became a legal adult, have you ever made unwanted requests for sexual favors

00:43:34.940 or committed any verbal or physical harassment or assault of a sexual nature?

00:43:41.620 No, Senator.

00:43:42.600 Have you ever faced discipline or entered into a settlement relating to this kind of conduct?

00:43:47.560 Senator, I was falsely accused in October of 2017.

00:43:54.880 It was fully investigated and I was completely cleared.

00:43:58.400 I don't think completely cleared is accurate.

00:44:00.900 But the fact is that your own lawyer said that you entered into an NDA and paid a person who accused you of raping her a sum of money

00:44:15.720 to make sure that she did not file a complaint.

00:44:19.900 Moving on.

00:44:20.620 As Secretary, you will be in charge of maintaining good order and discipline by enforcing the Uniform Code of Military Justice, UCMJ.

00:44:30.600 In addition to the sexual assault allegations, and by the way, the answer to my second question should have been yes.

00:44:36.280 I have read multiple reports of your regularly being drunk at work, including by people who worked with you at Fox News.

00:44:44.820 Do you know that being drunk at work is prohibited for service members under the UCMJ?

00:44:51.760 Senator, those are multiple false anonymous reports peddled by NBC News that run directly contradictory to the dozens of men and women at Fox News Channel

00:45:02.980 who I work with who came on the record and said they've never seen that.

00:45:07.160 In your opening statement, Mr. Hexeth, you commit to holding leaders accountable at all levels.

00:45:12.660 That includes you, of course.

00:45:14.820 And frankly, as Secretary, you will be on the job 24-7.

00:45:20.240 You recently promised some of my Republican colleagues that you stopped drinking and won't drink if confirmed, correct?

00:45:31.600 Absolutely.

00:45:32.920 Will you resign as Secretary of Defense if you drink on the job, which is a 24-7 position?

00:45:40.340 I've made this commitment on behalf of the men and women I'm serving.

00:45:43.700 I'm not hearing an answer to my question, so I'm going to move on.

00:45:54.520 While you have made that commitment, you will not commit to resigning if you drink on the job.

00:46:00.040 As Secretary of Defense, you will swear an oath to the Constitution and not an oath to any man, woman, or president, correct?

00:46:07.680 Senator, on multiple occasions, including as a young second lieutenant, I have sworn an oath to the Constitution and I'm proud to do so.

00:46:14.500 Yes, ma'am.

00:46:15.240 In June of 2020, then-President Trump directed former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper to shoot protesters in the legs in downtown D.C.

00:46:24.300 an order Secretary Esper refused to comply with.

00:46:29.120 Would you carry out such an order from President Trump?

00:46:33.680 Senator, I was in the Washington, D.C. National Guard unit that was in Lafayette Square during those events- 0.97

00:46:39.860 Would you carry out an order to shoot protesters in the legs?

00:46:43.600 I saw 50 Secret Service agents get injured by rioters trying to jump over the fence, set the church on fire, and destroy a statue. 0.96

00:46:51.820 You know what? That sounds to me that you will comply with such an order.

00:46:54.020 You will shoot protesters in the leg. 1.00

00:46:57.060 Moving on. 0.99

00:46:58.420 President E. Lec has attacked our allies in recent weeks,

00:47:02.000 refusing to rule out using military force to take over Greenland and the Panama Canal,

00:47:08.780 and threatening to make Canada the 51st state.

00:47:13.480 Would you carry out an order from President Trump to seize Greenland, a territory of our NATO ally Denmark, by force?

00:47:21.700 Or would you comply with an order to take over the Panama Canal?

00:47:25.780 Senator, I will emphasize that President Trump received 77 million votes to be the lawful commander-in-chief of this country.

00:47:32.920 We're not talking about the election.

00:47:34.420 My question is, would you use our military to take over Greenland or an ally of Denmark?

00:47:46.600 Senator, one of the things that President Trump is so good at is never strategically tipping his hand.

00:47:50.780 And so I would never, in this public forum, give one way or another direct what orders the President would give me in any context.

00:47:57.780 That sounds to me that you would contemplate carrying out such an order to basically invade Greenland

00:48:02.800 and take over the Panama Canal.

00:48:07.340 Current DOD policy allows service members and eligible dependents to be reimbursed for travel

00:48:14.260 associated with non-covered reproductive health care, including abortions.

00:48:18.940 Will you maintain this common-sense policy?

00:48:22.580 Senator, I've always been personally pro-life.

00:48:25.560 I know President Trump has as well, and we will review all policies.

00:48:29.860 But our standard is whatever the President wants on this particular issue with my advice, I will take a look at it.

00:48:34.940 If the President tells you that this common-sense policy will not be maintained,

00:48:38.840 you will not enable our service members to seek reproductive care.

00:48:45.060 I don't believe the federal government should be funding travel for abortion.

00:48:48.700 I'm not hearing answers to my questions, Mr. Chairman.

00:48:50.540 I just want to note that the other area of serious concern to me is President Trump saying that he wants to use the military

00:48:57.900 to help with mass deportations, which will cost billions of dollars.

00:49:03.260 And what that will do to readiness is very, very concerning.

00:49:08.000 Mr. Hexert, I have noticed a disturbing pattern.

00:49:14.600 You previously have made a series of inflammatory statements about women in combat, LGBTQ service members,

00:49:22.220 Muslim Americans, and Democrats. 0.52

00:49:25.680 Since your nominations, however, you have walked those back on TV and interviews,

00:49:31.740 and most recently in your opening statements.

00:49:33.800 You are no longer on Fox and Friends, Mr. Hexert.

00:49:38.020 If confirmed, your words, actions, and decisions will have real impacts on national security

00:49:44.720 and our service members' lives.

00:49:47.140 There are close to 3 million personnel in the Department of Defense,

00:49:52.160 $900 billion budget.

00:49:56.180 I hardly think you are prepared to do the job.

00:49:59.980 Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

00:50:00.980 Thank you.

00:50:02.420 That wasn't a question, Mr. Hexert.

00:50:05.360 Thank you, Senator Rona.

00:50:07.320 Senator Sullivan.

00:50:08.180 Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Mr. Hexert.

00:50:11.100 Congratulations on your nomination, and thank you and your family for your service and sacrifice.

00:50:16.940 Do you ever think, how can I work this hard and still be in debt?

00:50:21.700 The piles of overdue bills, the threatening phone calls, and never having money to do anything.

00:50:26.360 It just won't stop.

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00:51:35.320 Thank you, Senator.

00:51:36.100 Now for the most important question you will receive all day.

00:51:39.140 Alaska, who's a Marine, and I'm not trying to downplay the importance of the Republican senators, but clearly they're supportive of Pete.

00:51:51.760 And it's, I think, most important to focus on Pete being fully attacked.

00:51:55.860 You saw right there.

00:51:57.100 These attacks are relentless.

00:51:59.480 Audience should take away, too.

00:52:00.520 They're not interested in Pete's answers.

00:52:02.820 Pete Hexeth has great answers.

00:52:05.340 And they're not interested in it.

00:52:06.740 They have an agenda.

00:52:08.540 Here's the agenda.

00:52:09.340 They know Pete Hexeth is going to get confirmed.

00:52:12.100 And here's why they know he's going to get confirmed.

00:52:14.220 There has been nothing.

00:52:15.320 I'm not so sure they got any witnesses on all this anonymous charges and smears on Pete.

00:52:21.500 I'm not sure they were able to get from the day Pete was announced with all the support they had from the New York Times and MSNBC.

00:52:27.880 And Pete just called out MSNBC right there.

00:52:30.640 It's MSNBC that's been all over this day one, making up the same types of lies that they are unsupported assertions that they did with President Trump and the whole, you know, shifty shift, Comey, the Mueller investigation, all of it.

00:52:46.980 Remember, go back over time.

00:52:48.600 The same type of thing they did with Pete Hexeth.

00:52:50.540 And when it comes time to put up or shut up, they got nothing.

00:52:53.920 But they understand in political warfare and information warfare and sending a narrative that they can basically, you know, scuff somebody up or scar somebody up with these smears.

00:53:05.020 I want to go back over the questions. 0.95

00:53:08.320 The first group of Democratic senators have come at Pete hard on everything from his character to your womanizer, your abuser, sexual abuse.

00:53:19.460 You don't know how to manage any kind of large group. 0.98

00:53:23.280 You waste money.

00:53:24.220 You drink on the job.

00:53:25.500 You support war criminals. 0.86

00:53:27.340 You've been disruptive in your command.

00:53:29.120 Everything you could attack Pete Hexeth on, they've gone at it.

00:53:31.800 And that's why I wanted you to see it.

00:53:33.560 And it's best not to even someone like me talk about it.

00:53:36.160 Just see it yourself.

00:53:37.640 What have your own lion eyes shown you?

00:53:40.100 How they've come after him relentlessly on all kind of made-up stuff.

00:53:43.420 And Pete Hexeth, very cool and calm, sits there with the personifying the warrior ethos.

00:53:53.660 This is what I thought was very good about, what is it, Colonel Mike Waltz's, the Green Beret is going to be National Security Advisor. 0.64

00:54:02.180 And look, we've got differences with Mike Waltz.

00:54:05.380 I did it on the show yesterday.

00:54:06.620 Kind of a gentle nudge to say, hey, bro, maybe we shouldn't take ownership of the Ukraine war.

00:54:13.140 But think of where Waltz is coming from, and particularly in the House, when you look at Wicker, who's the senior.

00:54:19.780 Wicker's a Republican from Mississippi.

00:54:23.060 And Wicker is the chairman of the Armed Services Committee in the Senate, which is a massively powerful job.

00:54:31.520 He's got the Ukraine flag right on his lapel.

00:54:34.920 I mean, this is what you're up against.

00:54:36.940 Waltz today put in his opening statement, the warrior ethos, the warrior ethos, the warrior ethos.

00:54:42.240 And I hope we get that trending on social media because that's what this is about.

00:54:45.760 You see Pete Hexeth, kind of the warrior ethos right there that you see him, and he's being relentlessly attacked.

00:54:55.360 Does that look like a group of warriors?

00:54:56.820 And recommendation to the Democratic Party.

00:55:00.840 If you're going to go after Pete Hexeth, I realize Jack Reed, I think, is a long-serving Army officer.

00:55:06.400 And, you know, Gillibrand, these people have their own angle of attack and own style.

00:55:10.540 But when you put up Blumenthal, I don't care how senior he is.

00:55:13.740 If you put up Blumenthal, who's guilty of stolen valor, when you put him up to basically be one of the first questions, you lose all credibility.

00:55:24.080 Right then and there, your attacks on Hexeth mean nothing.

00:55:27.740 People in the military, people close to this understand a guy like Blumenthal is negative credibility.

00:55:33.500 And so in his attacks on Pete Hexeth, and I want to go back.

00:55:38.120 And this is why, and I want to thank Real America's Voice, and let us blow the brakes

00:55:41.760 because I thought it was very important today during our show to set the kind of template

00:55:45.420 that you could see it without commercial interruption.

00:55:48.920 You could see the attacks one after the other on the Democratic side of Pete Hexeth,

00:55:53.060 where they were, and they're very coordinated, what they went through, right,

00:55:55.800 from all the sexual issues and the issues about women to the issues about drinking,

00:56:00.940 the issues about these organizations, about the money,

00:56:03.780 the issues about him having the back of warriors in the field.

00:56:07.660 And they said he backed war criminals and everything with his commands and all of his writings and books,

00:56:12.660 particularly women in combat.

00:56:14.620 On all of those kind of eight to ten issues, they're relentless.

00:56:17.720 Bang, bang, bang. 0.89

00:56:18.500 They've got highly coordinated questions, and they're not interested in an answer.

00:56:22.580 They're interested in a sound bite that they can put up on MSNBC tonight.

00:56:26.500 Watch the Rachel Matters show.

00:56:27.820 She won't be on tonight, but watch MSNBC tonight, particularly Joanne Reed, Chris Hayes, Alex Wagner.

00:56:33.440 The opening thing will be Pete Hexeth, and they'll have a whole montage at the beginning of clips

00:56:39.100 from the Democratic senators asking cheap shot questions and no real response from Pete Hexeth.

00:56:45.680 They'll go boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, because they're trying to build a narrative

00:56:49.380 that Pete Hexeth is irresponsible, Pete Hexeth is a bad guy, Pete Hexeth has no character,

00:56:54.460 Pete Hexeth is over his head, President Trump is putting up unqualified people.

00:56:58.580 Nothing could be further from the truth.

00:57:00.280 President Trump won a sweeping victory.

00:57:03.860 He gets to have the team he wants.

00:57:06.320 I also hope that everybody's taking to heart that we should have never backed off of Matt

00:57:10.080 Gates.

00:57:11.200 Pete Hexeth, who's not guilty of any of this stuff, Pete Hexeth is going to power through,

00:57:15.280 and if they're smart, and if Wicker stands his ground, we stayed at 9 or 10 o'clock tonight.

00:57:21.000 Pete's a tough guy.

00:57:21.880 He can take it.

00:57:22.480 We take all the questions.

00:57:23.620 Let them ask everything they want to ask, but it's going to end today.

00:57:26.620 No coming back over the next couple of days where they can run around and cause all the

00:57:31.680 nasty, dirty work they want to do. 0.80

00:57:34.220 Today ends it, and then put it to a committee vote.

00:57:36.380 Give them 48 hours.

00:57:37.640 Put it to a committee vote on Thursday.

00:57:39.820 Let the whole Senate vote on it, and let Pete Hexeth, Secretary of Defense, be, as soon

00:57:44.620 as President Trump is taking the oath of office, first person he swears in is Pete Hexeth.

00:57:51.120 This is where it should go, and they should dig in hard on this.

00:57:53.260 There should be no, no, no opportunity whatsoever to slow this thing down.

00:57:59.060 Once again, I want to thank Real America's Voice.

00:58:00.800 It was very important, I think, particularly the first two hours here today, to hear, without

00:58:05.700 commercial interruption, exactly how they're attacking him on these questions.

00:58:09.840 Pete Hexeth, I think, has been magnificent in these first couple hours.

00:58:13.180 Mo is actually one of the people that were asked to come and sit and support Pete Hexeth.

00:58:19.400 She's, Mo's, as you know, served in Iraq with the 101st after West Point.

00:58:23.540 She's a huge supporter of Pete Hexeth, and that's why she's there today.

00:58:26.960 I think she's actually been tweeting.

00:58:29.600 As soon as Sullivan is asking some questions.

00:58:31.720 By the way, the Republicans are asking great questions, but I think it's, I need to contextualize

00:58:37.560 what's going on with the Democrats.

00:58:39.000 This is the Democrats, and here's what they're trying to do.

00:58:41.240 They're trying to send a signal to President Trump, this is how we're going to handle you

00:58:44.580 and everybody.

00:58:44.920 Let's go back to the hearing right now.

00:58:47.520 By the time you were still married to your second wife, correct?

00:58:52.560 I believe so.

00:58:53.880 And you had just fathered a child by a woman who would later become your third wife, correct?

00:58:59.140 Senator, I was falsely charged, fully investigated, and completely cleared.

00:59:04.940 So you think you were completely cleared because you committed no crime.

00:59:08.720 That's your definition of cleared?

00:59:10.260 You had just fathered a child two months before by a woman that was not your wife.

00:59:14.900 I am shocked that you would stand here and say you're completely cleared.

00:59:19.940 Can you so casually cheat on a second wife and cheat on the mother of a child that had 0.70

00:59:26.020 been born two months before, and you tell us you were completely cleared?

00:59:29.800 How is that a complete clear?

00:59:31.520 Senator, her child's name is Gwendolyn Hope Hegseth.

00:59:35.060 And she's a child of God, and she's seven years old.

00:59:37.320 And she was, and you cheated on the mother of that child less than two months after that 0.98

00:59:42.320 daughter was born, didn't you?

00:59:44.620 Those were false charges.

00:59:46.280 It was fully investigated, and that was completely cleared.

00:59:48.780 And I am so grateful for the marriage I have to this amazing woman behind me.

00:59:53.000 You've admitted that you had sex at that hotel in October 2017.

00:59:58.380 You said it was consensual.

00:59:59.680 Isn't that correct?

01:00:01.560 Anything?

01:00:03.360 You've admitted that it was consensual, and you were still married, and you just had a child

01:00:07.260 by another woman.

01:00:08.340 Again.

01:00:08.600 How do you explain your judgment?

01:00:09.960 Completely false charges against me.

01:00:12.200 Fully investigated, and I'm just completely clear.

01:00:14.440 You have admitted that you had sex while you were married to wife two after you just had

01:00:19.020 fathered a child by wife three.

01:00:21.180 You've admitted that.

01:00:22.280 Now, if it had been a sexual assault, that would be disqualifying to be Secretary of Defense,

01:00:26.820 wouldn't it?

01:00:28.500 If it's a false claim then and a false claim now.

01:00:30.560 If it had been a sexual assault, that would be disqualifying to be Secretary of Defense,

01:00:36.440 wouldn't it?

01:00:36.820 That was a false claim.

01:00:39.740 Just talking about a hypothetical.

01:00:41.300 So you can't tell me whether someone who has committed a sexual assault is disqualified

01:00:47.220 from being Secretary of Defense?

01:00:49.240 Senator, I know in my instance, and I'm talking about my instance only, it was a false claim.

01:00:54.920 But you acknowledge that you cheated on your wife and that you cheated on the woman by whom

01:01:01.640 you had just fathered a child.

01:01:02.960 You have admitted that.

01:01:03.920 I will allow your words to speak for themselves.

01:01:06.860 You're not retracting that today.

01:01:08.120 That's good.

01:01:08.540 I assume that in each of your weddings, you've pledged to be faithful to your wife.

01:01:12.500 You've taken an oath to do that, haven't you?

01:01:15.120 Senator, as I've acknowledged to everyone in this committee, I'm not a perfect person.

01:01:19.560 I'm not claiming to be.

01:01:20.100 But no, I just asked the simple question.

01:01:21.680 You've taken an oath like you would take an oath to be Secretary of Defense in all of your

01:01:25.220 weddings to be faithful to your wife.

01:01:26.500 Is that correct?

01:01:28.420 I have failed in things in my life, and thankfully, I'm redeemed by my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

01:01:33.120 In finalizing divorces from your first and second wives, were there non-disclosure agreements

01:01:37.680 in connection with those divorces?

01:01:40.280 Senator, not that I'm aware of.

01:01:42.400 If there were, would you agree to release those first and second wives from any confidentiality 0.97

01:01:47.480 agreement?

01:01:47.980 Senator, it's not something I'm aware of.

01:01:50.380 But if there were, you would agree to release them from a confidentiality?

01:01:53.580 Senator, that's not my responsibility.

01:01:55.660 Did you ever engage in any acts of physical violence against any of your wives?

01:01:59.640 Senator, absolutely not.

01:02:01.780 But you would agree with me that if someone had committed physical violence against a

01:02:05.380 spouse, that would be disqualifying to serve as Secretary of Defense, correct?

01:02:09.520 Senator, absolutely not have I ever done that.

01:02:12.720 You would agree that that would be a disqualifying offense, would you not?

01:02:17.180 Senator, you're talking about a hypothetical.

01:02:20.140 I don't think it's a hypothetical.

01:02:22.780 Violence against spouses occurs every day.

01:02:25.600 And if you as a leader are not capable of saying that physical violence against a spouse

01:02:31.120 should be a disqualifying fact for being secretary of the most powerful nation in the world, you're

01:02:38.140 demonstrating an astonishing lack of judgment.

01:02:41.820 The incident in Monterey led to a criminal charge, a criminal investigation, a private

01:02:45.720 settlement, and a cash payment to the woman who filed the complaint.

01:02:49.140 And there was also a non-disclosure agreement, correct?

01:02:53.520 It was a confidential settlement agreement off of a nuisance lawsuit.

01:02:58.220 Right.

01:02:58.960 During an interview, you claimed that you settled the matter because you were worried that if

01:03:03.040 it became public, it might hurt your career.

01:03:04.980 Do you maintain that you were blackmailed?

01:03:07.640 Senator, I maintain that false claims were made against me.

01:03:11.420 And ultimately, those false claims, I had the opportunity to attest my innocence in those

01:03:17.340 false claims.

01:03:18.160 But you didn't reveal any of this to President Trump or the transition team as they were considering

01:03:23.180 you to be nominated for secretary of defense.

01:03:26.120 You didn't reveal the action.

01:03:28.940 You didn't reveal the criminal complaint.

01:03:30.880 You didn't reveal the criminal investigation.

01:03:33.140 You didn't reveal the settlement.

01:03:35.060 You didn't reveal the cash payment.

01:03:36.580 Why didn't you inform the commander-in-chief and the transition team of this very relevant

01:03:43.080 event?

01:03:44.420 Senator, I've appreciated every part of the process with the transition team.

01:03:48.460 They have been open and honest with me.

01:03:50.340 We've had great conversations between the two of us.

01:03:52.860 And I appreciate the opportunity that President-elect Trump has given me.

01:03:56.160 But you chose not to reveal this, right?

01:03:58.780 Because you knew it would hurt your chances.

01:04:01.060 So you chose not to reveal this really important thing to the commander-in-chief and the transition

01:04:06.560 team because you were worried about your chances rather than trying to be candid with the

01:04:11.380 future president of the United States.

01:04:14.200 Are there any other important facts that you chose not to reveal to the president-elect and

01:04:18.860 his team as they were considering you to be secretary of defense?

01:04:22.000 Senator, I sit here before you in open book as everyone who's watched this process.

01:04:27.120 With multiple non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements tying the hands of many people who

01:04:32.260 would like to comment to us.

01:04:34.080 Much has been made of your workplace behavior as a leader of non-profit veterans' organizations

01:04:40.900 and as a Fox News contributor.

01:04:43.380 Were you fired from either of the leadership positions with the non-profits?

01:04:47.680 I was the leader.

01:04:48.380 I was the CEO of Concerned Veterans for America and the executive director of Bets for Freedom.

01:04:52.620 Were you fired from either of them?

01:04:53.520 And I was never fired from a veterans' organization.

01:04:55.720 Do you have non-disclosure agreements with either of those organizations?

01:04:58.920 Not that I'm aware of, Senator.

01:05:00.180 Many of your work colleagues have said that you show up for work under the influence of

01:05:05.300 alcohol or drunk.

01:05:06.280 I know you've denied that, but you would agree with me, right, that if that was the case,

01:05:09.680 that would be disqualifying for somebody to be secretary of defense.

01:05:12.820 Senator, those are all anonymous false claims.

01:05:15.620 And the totality of the letters on the record here.

01:05:19.040 They're not anonymous.

01:05:19.620 On the record, people who've worked with me at Vets for Freedom, Concerned Vets for America,

01:05:24.560 and Fox News attributing to me being working hard every day on behalf of my mission.

01:05:30.000 One of your colleagues said that you got drunk at an event at a bar and chanted, 1.00

01:05:34.060 kill all Muslims. 1.00

01:05:35.440 Another colleague, not anonymous, we have this, said that you took co-workers to a strip club. 1.00

01:05:41.040 You were drunk.

01:05:41.820 You tried to dance with strippers.

01:05:43.360 You had to be held off the stage, and one of your employees in that event filed a sexual

01:05:50.380 harassment charge as a result of it.

01:05:53.000 Now, I know you denied these things, but isn't that the kind of behavior that, if true, would

01:05:57.840 be disqualifying for somebody to be secretary of defense?

01:06:02.360 Senator, anonymous false charges.

01:06:04.320 They're not anonymous.

01:06:05.300 And I'll just conclude and say this to the chairman.

01:06:08.880 You claimed that this was all anonymous.

01:06:10.560 We have seen records with names attached to all of these, including the name of your own mother.

01:06:17.680 So don't make this into some anonymous press thing.

01:06:20.680 We have seen multiple names of colleagues consistently throughout your career that have talked about

01:06:25.900 your abusive actions and attitudes.

01:06:27.960 Chairman, I think he's a...

01:06:29.560 And thank you very much.

01:06:33.500 I now ask unanimous consent to enter into the record a family court order concerning the

01:06:44.700 appointment of parenting time between Mr. Henson and Mrs.

01:06:49.900 We're going to...

01:06:51.020 Okay, I want folks to understand the reason I'm showing this, and there's some anxiety in

01:06:55.160 the chat room.

01:06:55.740 It should be.

01:06:58.020 And by the way, you can get that repeat out of my ear.

01:07:00.920 However, you see the intensity of Tim Kaine?

01:07:07.340 Now, remember what Tim Kaine's trying to do, and this is why it's murder board in advance.

01:07:12.700 Okay?

01:07:13.240 It's murder board in advance.

01:07:14.580 They say, if you go through over and over again, the type of Tim...

01:07:17.580 Tim Kaine's asking these questions.

01:07:20.200 I think Tim was...

01:07:21.220 Senator Kaine was the former attorney general, I think, of Virginia.

01:07:24.300 And he's coming at him hard.

01:07:26.960 He's trying to set up...

01:07:28.060 If Pete was to answer yes to anyone, they're going to try to roll out some made-up witness

01:07:32.940 that come in later and say, oh, this is why they want multiple days.

01:07:36.160 This is why it's so important for Wicker.

01:07:39.780 In the war room posse, right now, 202-224-3121 should be working the phones of the United States

01:07:45.980 Senate, particularly these Republicans.

01:07:47.760 Let the staffs know you need to hang tough on Pete Hexas because he's being crucified unfairly

01:07:54.160 by a...

01:07:55.560 He's being smeared.

01:07:56.840 For two hours, we've sat here.

01:07:58.500 We've shown every Democrat that has come at him, and their seven-minute slugs, each one's

01:08:04.340 been in full attack mode.

01:08:05.780 This is not trying to find out...

01:08:07.640 They've not asked really any deep policy questions about anything about really being

01:08:12.200 Secretary of Defense.

01:08:13.040 That's all been to the Republicans.

01:08:14.300 Republicans, we've shown all the attacks of the Democrats, and here's why.

01:08:19.660 This is what they intend to do to President Trump.

01:08:22.020 Don't believe this thing.

01:08:22.960 They're looking to work together of how we can make this work, of how everything can go.

01:08:29.040 I tell you, let's cut back to the Republicans real quickly, and then we'll come up with some

01:08:32.200 wrapping up comments.

01:08:33.460 Let's go back to the hearing yourself.

01:08:35.160 I want to sketch this.

01:08:36.460 Tattoo, a Christian tattoo.

01:08:37.600 Can you elaborate just a little bit on what is this very offensive, extremist, racist

01:08:43.360 tattoo that you have?

01:08:46.520 It's a tattoo I have right here, Senator.

01:08:49.120 It's called the Jerusalem Cross.

01:08:50.840 It's a historic Christian symbol.

01:08:54.060 In fact, interestingly, recently I attended briefly the memorial ceremony of former President

01:09:00.980 Jimmy Carter, on the floor of our National Cathedral, on the front page of his program, was the very

01:09:08.140 same Jerusalem Cross.

01:09:10.020 It is a Christian religious symbol.

01:09:13.160 And when the events happened before preceding the Biden inauguration, I was a part of the

01:09:20.780 mobilization to defend that inauguration.

01:09:22.460 As someone who'd been a proud supporter of Donald Trump, but also a member of the military, had

01:09:28.240 orders to come to Washington, D.C. to guard that inauguration.

01:09:31.960 And at the last minute, those orders were revoked.

01:09:34.560 I'd never had orders revoked before.

01:09:35.900 I'd been on orders to a lot of places to do a lot of difficult and dangerous things.

01:09:39.340 They were revoked, and I was not told why.

01:09:41.780 Later, when I wrote my book, I was able to get information that was because I had been

01:09:45.840 identified.

01:09:46.480 But someone who'd served in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Guantanamo Bay, holding a riot shield outside

01:09:54.320 the White House, I'd been identified as an extremist, someone unworthy of guarding the

01:10:02.220 inauguration of an incoming American president.

01:10:05.180 And if that's happening to me, Senator, how many other men and women, how many other patriots,

01:10:11.880 how many other people of conscience?

01:10:13.420 We haven't even talked about COVID and the tens of thousands of service members who were

01:10:18.880 kicked out because of an experimental vaccine.

01:10:21.600 In President Trump's Defense Department, they will be apologized to.

01:10:25.300 They will be reinstituted with pay and rank.

01:10:28.940 Things like focusing on extremism, Senator, have created a climate inside our ranks that

01:10:34.840 feel political when it hasn't ever been political.

01:10:39.000 Those are the types of things that are going to change.

01:10:40.920 And Senator Sullivan, you mentioned that study.

01:10:42.700 After a whole study was held, extremism working group study, 100 extremists were identified

01:10:48.840 in the ranks of 3 million.

01:10:51.840 And most of those were gang-related.

01:10:53.980 So it was a made-up boogeyman to begin with.

01:10:56.340 You, Mr. Hakeseth, are not the extremists.

01:10:58.740 The people who would deny you your expression of faith are the extremists.

01:11:03.740 They're the racists. 0.98

01:11:05.480 They're the bigots. 0.98

01:11:06.820 You're the one that is protecting their right to be one.

01:11:09.700 Thank you for that.

01:11:11.560 I want to go to another point in your opening statement.

01:11:15.580 And it's summarized in this beautiful one-sentence paragraph.

01:11:18.720 You said, quote,

01:11:19.660 At that moment, in my mind's eye, I heard soldiers, airmen, marines, sailors, guardians, from the Pentagon to the Pacific and everywhere in between applaud.

01:11:43.640 And they're thinking, it's about time.

01:11:47.880 I can get on board with that idea.

01:11:50.640 And quite honestly, and I want to get to this because I think it's so important.

01:11:54.620 I would say, I don't know, just about every, maybe everyone, I'm trying to think of an exception to this, that wears the uniform that has ever come before this committee or that I've met with privately, publicly, that I've been on tours with, that I've traveled with, that wear the uniform, whether it's with four stars or no stars, agrees with that statement.

01:12:15.360 And I just want to caution you, and I'd be interested in your feedback on this.

01:12:20.080 You know, there's been a lot of talk about firing woke generals, creating the purge group, and all those things you and I have talked about.

01:12:27.940 I would say give those men and women a chance under new leadership.

01:12:31.740 You know, my favorite painting in the rotunda is of George Washington retiring his commission, establishing on day one a man who could have been king, chose to be a civilian leader of this country.

01:12:45.740 And I just would encourage you to trust them first and look forward to them saluting the civilian leadership of this country.

01:12:58.620 So just maybe if you could spend a minute just elaborating a little bit about the wokeness, where it comes from, and who will be held accountable.

01:13:07.660 The wokeness comes not from the uniform rank, Senator, but from the political class.

01:13:12.940 On day one, on January 20th, when President Trump is sworn in, he will issue a new set of lawful orders.

01:13:19.060 And the leadership of our services will have an opportunity to follow those lawful orders or not.

01:13:24.020 Those lawful orders will not be based on politics.

01:13:26.240 They will be based on readiness, accountability, standards, and lethality.

01:13:30.380 That is the process by which leaders will be judged.

01:13:34.140 And accountability is coming because everybody in this room knows if you're a rifleman and you lose your rifle, they're throwing the book at you.

01:13:44.700 But if you're a general who loses a war, you get a promotion.

01:13:48.940 That's not going to happen in Donald Trump's Pentagon.

01:13:52.480 There will be real standards for success.

01:13:55.680 Everyone from the top, from the most senior general to the most lowly private, will ensure that they're treated fairly, men and women, inside that system.

01:14:04.640 I also just want to commend you for your answers to Senator Fisher's questions about nuclear deterrence.

01:14:09.740 Okay, we're going to transition this over to Charlie Kirk, the Charlie Kirk Show.

01:14:15.880 Charlie, I think, is going to take much of this live.

01:14:17.460 I think it's very important to hear this.

01:14:19.320 For the audience today, I wanted you to see this without any, not just interruption, without any filter.

01:14:25.380 You've seen every Democrat come at Pete Hegseth, and you see exactly what they are.

01:14:30.780 There's been a great unmasking today.

01:14:32.820 It's not Pete Hegseth.

01:14:33.800 Pete Hegseth came with full disclosure.

01:14:36.560 The great unmasking is all this, they're going to work with Trump, part of working with Trump.

01:14:39.960 It's a bald-faced lie.

01:14:41.760 It's a bald-faced lie.

01:14:43.500 This is why I say this is the preamble to the days of thunder.

01:14:46.740 Turn it over now to Charlie Kirk, the Charlie Kirk Show.

01:14:49.800 Jack Basso will be after that.

01:14:51.080 We'll be back 5 to 7.

01:14:52.180 I will guarantee, when we're back here at 5 o'clock, they'll still be coming after Pete Hegseth.

01:14:56.600 So we'll put more context in it.

01:14:58.340 I want to thank Real America's Voice for giving the last two hours unesperated.

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Bannon's War Room - January 14, 2025

Episode 4193： Bringing Warrior Ethos To Defense cont.

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