One set of documents is stashed in a gun safe in Northern Virginia.
asserted
set → stash → Virginia
Another sits in a safe deposit box at a Washington, DC, bank.
asserted
Another → sit → bank
A third is tucked away somewhere on the West Coast.
asserted
third → tuck → Coast
All three hold evidence that fed-up Defense Department officials hope will force Pete Hegseth out after next week's midterm elections.
asserted
officials → hold → elections
Pentagon sources told the Daily Mail they and their colleagues have spent much of the last 22 months compiling emails, memos and meeting notes.
asserted
they → tell → emails
The files detail times the defense secretary and his inner circle allegedly ignored strategic and legal advice, berated the experts who gave it, withheld information from Congress and the public, and threatened the careers of subordinates who either challenged his decisions or struck him as too woke, fat, queer or disloyal.
uncertain
who → detail → him
They figure the paper trail, plus a list of potential witnesses from inside the department, will come in handy if Democrats retake the House in November and, as expected, open an impeachment investigation in 2027.
asserted
Democrats → figure → 2027
'We're ready with the receipts,' said a longtime Army officer who keeps a Trapper Keeper, once his daughter's high school binder, double-locked in his basement gun safe.
asserted
Keeper → say → safe
Inside are documents that he believes could one day bring down his boss.
uncertain
he → believe → boss
He is one of several Defense Department insiders who described coordinated plans to hand paper trails and personal accounts to lawmakers interested in investigating, and possibly impeaching, Hegseth.
uncertain
who → describe → Hegseth
All insisted on anonymity, fearing for their jobs, military pensions and ability to build a case from inside the Pentagon.
asserted
All → insist → Pentagon
Pentagon insiders have spent months secretly compiling a trove of potentially damaging evidence against Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, which they hope could lead to his ouster after the midterm elections, the Daily Mail has learned
Hegseth is seen visiting the troops in the Middle East in May.
uncertain
Hegseth → spend → May
Inside sources tell the Daily Mail they believe repeated leadership shake-ups have left troops uncertain about the future direction of the military (Source: SecWar/X account)
asserted
ups → tell → military
'We're sticking our necks out.
asserted
We → stick → necks
You gotta protect us,' one pleaded.
asserted
one → got → us
This comes as news broke Wednesday that Hegseth has fired the Pentagon's top military planner, Army Lt Gen Brett Sylvia.
asserted
Hegseth → come → planner
Formerly heading up strategy, plans and policy on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Sylvia was removed after he reportedly leaked classified information about the war in Iran as well as the war between Russia and Ukraine – and just as President Donald Trump considers renewed strikes on Iran following next week's midterm elections.
uncertain
Trump → head → elections
Since early 2025, the Daily Mail has been in close contact with a core group of military and civilian Pentagon insiders who, along with others in the department, have tried in various ways to blow the whistle on Hegseth.
asserted
who → try → Hegseth
The former Fox & Friends host has rebranded the federal government's biggest agency the 'Department of War' and, they say, runs it like a personal fiefdom.
asserted
they → rebrande → fiefdom
Our sources first raised red flags about the outsized role of Hegseth's wife, former Fox News producer Jennifer Hegseth.
asserted
sources → raise → wife
After news broke that she was in encrypted Signal chats about sensitive details of a March 2025 US strike on Houthi rebels in Yemen, insiders revealed her Pentagon nickname: 'Yoko Ono,' a nod to her constant presence in her husband's business meetings.
asserted
insiders → break → meetings
By spring 2025, the insiders were decrying Hegseth for issuing orders and setting policy without considering, or even hearing, input from intelligence, security, logistics and legal advisers.
asserted
insiders → decry → intelligence
Hegseth's critics are banking on a potential Democratic takeover of the House to trigger impeachment proceedings, though some believe mounting political pressure could force President Trump to fire him
They described politicized decision-making, department-wide dysfunction, low morale and a climate of paranoia fed by what they call his obsession with rooting out dissent.
uncertain
they → bank → dissent
Several laid out their grievances in a 2025 letter that circulated among high- and mid-level brass and civilian workers, calling to 'Let the American public know this guy has no clue what he's doing,' one of them told the Daily Mail.
asserted
one → lay → Mail
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell brushed it off as 'palace intrigue' and 'sensationalized mainstream media gossip' that Americans 'don't care about.
asserted
Americans → brush → that
'
'They care about action,' his statement read at the time.
asserted
statement → care → time
The warnings grew more urgent as Hegseth kept firing top officials, including the Army secretary and chief of staff, the Joint Chiefs chairman, the Navy's highest-ranking officer, the top commander of forces in Europe and Africa, the judge advocates general (JAGs) of three military branches and scores of civilian Pentagon staffers.
asserted
Hegseth → grow → staffers
They ramped up when dozens of extrajudicial strikes on suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean and West Pacific began last fall.
asserted
dozens → ramp → Caribbean
And they grew louder still in February, when the Trump administration attacked Iran without a declaration of war or specific legal authorization.
asserted
administration → grow → war
Hegseth claimed an early victory over Iran last winter and has touted that the US achieved 'every single objective.'
But our sources say he ignored, and even concealed, a string of uncomfortable truths about the war: The military wasn't ready before the attack, US sites across the Middle East were badly damaged, and stockpiles of key munitions ran low.
asserted
stockpiles → claim → munitions
Hegseth has already come under fire for allegedly trying to impose a narrow brand of Christian nationalism within the military
The apparent mockery of Hegseth also now extends to his wife Jennifer, the sources say.
uncertain
sources → come → wife
His spouse is said to have earned the nickname 'Yoko' - after Yoko Ono - for sitting in on high-level meetings and even a sensitive Signal chat about military operations, despite holding no formal Pentagon role
As recently as Friday, President Donald Trump threatened that the US 'may do another little [Operation] Epic Fury' against Iran soon.
All of our Pentagon insiders say Hegseth has been told again and again that continued war with Iran is unsustainable.
Some see his new 'doomsday plan,' ordering every major US military base to prepare to run for at least 90 days without outside electricity, fuel, water or supplies, as his way of tackling the problem without the awkwardness of urging the president to drop his war plans.
'Pete's lucky to be here and he knows it.
uncertain
he → say → it
He's never gonna say no to Trump,' one said.
asserted
one → go → Trump
Two sources said they've taken part, directly or indirectly, in briefing members of Congress and their staffers on Hegseth's rule over the military.
asserted
they → say → military
The briefings have been decidedly low-tech and well away from Capitol Hill and the Pentagon, including, one source said, at a sandwich shop and a dog park.
asserted
source → include → shop
Blowing the whistle on the boss is risky.
asserted
Blowing → blow → boss
Two sources described an agreement that unofficial meetings with lawmakers and interviews with reporters be handled by officials nearing retirement, not those with careers still ahead.
asserted
meetings → describe → careers
Disgruntled military and civilian officials inside the Pentagon have purportedly stashed emails, memos, and meeting notes in secure locations hoping to hand the evidence to lawmakers
Members of the military listen as Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth gives a State of the Force address at Marine Corps Base Quantico in September
'If heads roll, it should be (us) who already raised our families and put our kids through college,' one said.
asserted
one → stash → college
Some lawmakers have tried to act.
asserted
lawmakers → try → ?
Last December, Michigan Democratic Representative Shri Thanedar introduced two articles of impeachment.
asserted
Thanedar → introduce → impeachment
…and 40 more, not listed.
The Aporia
