Before the effort to impeach him failed Tuesday, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth lashed out at a group he despises even more than “beardos” and “weirdos”: the press.
asserted
he → impeach → beardos
His security team threatened to physically remove journalists from a news briefing, Hegseth’s first in several months, if they didn’t maintain decorum.
asserted
they → threaten → decorum
It’s nothing new for Hegseth.
asserted
It → ’ → Hegseth
He may want to pump soldiers up with testosterone, but he’s spent the last couple years trying to neuter the Fourth Estate.
uncertain
he → want → Estate
It’s unfortunate that his unconstitutional attacks on journalists were not part of the official case for removing him.
asserted
attacks → ’ → him
And Congress should not stop with Hegseth.
asserted
Congress → stop → Hegseth
The impeachment resolution Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., brought against Hegseth included eight articles, alleging that the so-called Secretary of War acted illegally in military campaigns in Iran, Venezuela, and the Caribbean, among other things.
asserted
Secretary → bring → things
The resolution touched on free speech violations – Article VI is about Hegseth’s retaliation campaign against Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., for reminding troops of their right to refuse illegal orders – but it didn’t mention the press.
asserted
it → touch → press
A recap is in order: In February of 2025, Hegseth’s Pentagon evicted the New York Times, NBC, Politico, and NPR from their dedicated workspaces in the building, replacing them largely with sycophantic right-wing outlets like Breitbart and One America News Network.
asserted
Pentagon → evict → Breitbart
Some elements of the fawning right-wing press were on full display during his Tuesday press conference: “How does it make you feel,” asked a reporter from an outlet called Real America’s Voice, “when our own politicians don’t support taking out the narco-traffickers that kill their own constituents?
asserted
that → fawn → constituents
Months later, Hegseth concocted a requirement that journalists who wish to access the Pentagon pledge not to solicit unauthorized information from the government, under threat of losing their credentials.
asserted
who → concoct → credentials
Dozens of reporters from outlets across the political spectrum turned in their access badges rather than comply.
asserted
Dozens → turn → badges
They were replaced, once again, by loyalists who could be counted on to treat Hegseth and his fragile ego with kid gloves.
uncertain
who → replace → gloves
A judge soon struck down the pledge policy as an unconstitutional effort to force out disfavored journalists.
asserted
judge → strike → journalists
The Pentagon immediately issued new restrictions on unauthorized disclosures that were, in some ways, even worse than the originals.
asserted
that → issue → originals
The judge rejected that policy too.
asserted
judge → reject → policy
Hegseth also imposed a requirement for reporters to be escorted around the Pentagon, which is still working its way through the courts.
asserted
which → impose → courts
Hegseth’s Pentagon cracked down on the military’s newspaper, Stars and Stripes, barring it from briefings and demanding it stop publishing “woke” content.
asserted
it → crack → content
After all, it used to run columns from that well-known leftist Ann Coulter.
asserted
it → use → Coulter
His Pentagon then fired key personnel and otherwise did everything it could think of to try to turn Stars and Stripes into a propaganda organ unrecognizable to its readership – mostly troops, veterans, and their families.
uncertain
it → fire → readership
It gets even pettier: Hegseth’s staff barred press photographers from briefings after they published pictures of him that he found unflattering.
asserted
he → get → him
Hegseth’s illegal war on transparency has extended not just to reporters but also to their sources.
asserted
war → extend → sources
He forced staff to take unreliable polygraph tests to identify leakers until the White House itself halted the effort after a Trump loyalist complained about being targeted.
asserted
loyalist → force → effort
He’s formed a joint task force with the Justice Department to push for prosecution of leakers and adopted President Donald Trump’s alarming habit of equating national security reporting to “treason.”
asserted
He → form → treason
Censorship may not be the lede — alleged international war crimes understandably tend to take the spotlight over other infractions — but it also shouldn’t be an afterthought.
uncertain
it → allege → infractions
While Congress is at it, remove Brendan Carr too
And while they’re impeaching wartime censors, Congress shouldn’t forget about FCC Chair Brendan Carr.
asserted
Congress → remove → Carr
He has defied federal law, the First Amendment, and the FCC’s own rules and guidelines in his incessant efforts to turn the agency into Trump’s journalism police.
asserted
He → defy → police
And critical reporting on the Iran war – which the Republican party now apparently agrees deserved criticism all along – has been one of Carr’s most frequent targets.
asserted
party → agree → targets
At the beginning of the war, after Trump fumed at accurate coverage he disliked, Carr – who wears Trump’s gilded face as a lapel pin and sips from a mug depicting himself as Trump’s pit bull – promptly reposted the president’s attack.
asserted
who → fume → attack
He warned that broadcasters airing “hoaxes and news distortions” should “correct course before their license renewals come up.”
asserted
renewals → warn → course
An emboldened Trump responded the same night, posting that outlets spreading “fake news” about the war should “be brought up on Charges for TREASON,” adding that he was “thrilled” Carr was investigating the licenses of media outlets across the country.
asserted
Carr → respond → country
Then, after April’s purported ceasefire, CNN reported a statement from Iran’s Supreme National Security Council claiming victory.
asserted
CNN → report → victory
Trump took to Truth Social to announce a purported investigation into whether CNN committed some unspecified crime by publishing the quote.
asserted
CNN → take → quote
Carr piled on, accusing CNN, which the FCC does not regulate, of pushing a “hoax headline” that “requires accountability,” implying that licensees who aired similar reporting would face his wrath.
asserted
who → pile → wrath
Trump just would’ve preferred CNN air a different one.
asserted
CNN → prefer → one
Of course, Carr’s censorship campaigns are myriad and many have little to do with the war.
asserted
many → have → war
But his arguably most egregious (and impeachable) offense did, albeit indirectly.
asserted
offense → do → ?
Last year, Carr inexplicably stalled the FCC’s consideration of then-CBS News parent Paramount’s merger with David Ellison’s Skydance until Paramount paid $16 million to settle Trump’s frivolous lawsuit over “60 Minutes’” editing of an interview with Kamala Harris.
asserted
Paramount → stall → Harris
He approved the merger two days after Trump said he’d received his dirty money.
asserted
he → approve → money
Essentially, he aided Trump in laundering a bribe through the courts.
asserted
he → aid → courts
…and 11 more, not listed.
The Aporia
