Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) didn’t mince words as he delivered harsh comments about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who the lawmaker, a former Air Force general, made clear would not last in his administration if he were commander-in-chief.
Bacon subjected Hegseth to a brutal assessment during a CNN interview on Tuesday, following new bombshell revelations that the embattled defense secretary shared confidential attack plans on a Signal chat for a second time – on this occasion, with his wife, brother, personal attorney and about a dozen other people in tow, according to media reports.
“Well, I wouldn't tolerate it. I would hold them accountable and I’d fire them,” Bacon said bluntly during an appearance on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper.”
“He’s got to come clean and be honest and just take responsibility,” Bacon, a member of the House Armed Services committee, added.
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The Nebraska Republican went on to tell Tapper that the “operational details” Hegseth blasted over Signal, in which he discussed launching an aircraft attack in Yemen, was classified information that he said was “wrong to put on an unclassified application and to send it to people who are not cleared or in the need to know.”
“We would fire a second lieutenant for doing this,” he told Tapper, while also making clear “this is not a Republican view or a Democrat view.”
“I think it's an American view that we protect our security, we protect our servicemen and women, because those details, if they had gotten out early to the Houthis, could have endangered our airmen,” Bacon warned Tuesday.
He then directed a message directly to Hegseth.
“What I just want to see from the secretary is to just be honest, admit you did wrong, take responsibility, and apologize, because that lets us know that you understand that it was wrong,” he said. “When he does not admit to it and tries to obfuscate, that further lowers his credibility on this.”
Watch the video below via CNN or at the link here: