WASHINGTON (The Telegraph) - Current and former Pentagon officials are preparing to provide Congress with damaging information about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth if Democrats regain control of the House of Representatives in the November midterm elections.
The newspaper reported that Democratic lawmakers have begun contacting potential whistleblowers as they prepare for a possible investigation into Hegseth’s tenure at the Pentagon.
Lawmakers could subpoena members of Hegseth’s inner circle and revisit controversies including “Signalgate,” in which U.S. military plans were accidentally shared with a journalist on the Signal messaging app, according to sources cited by The Telegraph.
“There’s going to be a lot of people that are going to very quietly go to the chair of the armed (services) committee and are going to spill their guts, provide them with everything they can and leak everything they can,” one well-connected source told the newspaper.
“It’ll be horrendous. It’ll be consistent embarrassment,” the source added.
A former senior administration official said Hegseth damaged relationships with former allies through his conduct.
“Through his arrogance, he’s made many former allies willing to work with Democrats to hold his feet to the fire for all the damage he’s done to our military,” said the official.
Since taking office, Hegseth has removed or overseen the departure of numerous senior military and civilian officials, including former Army Chief of Staff Randy George and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff CQ Brown.
The report said that some Pentagon officials believe Hegseth poses a “threat to national security,” while others simply “don’t like him.”
Three members of Congress, including a Republican, have already introduced articles of impeachment against Hegseth.
A Pentagon source told The Telegraph that officials would cooperate with Congress and “provide insight” into how the agency had descended into “chaos” under Hegseth.