Pete Hegseth fired 'brushback pitch' at Fox News to halt scrutiny: Dem lawmaker
June 27, 2025
During an appearance on MSNBC early Friday morning, a Democratic lawmaker suggested that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made it clear on Thursday that he doesn't want any press scrutiny of the attack on Iran which is why the press needs to dig into it even more.
Speaking with the hosts of "Morning Joe," Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) noted a moment from Hegseth's contentious press conference when he singled out Fox News Pentagon reporter Jennifer Griffin who was pressing him about one of the bombing sites.
After calling on Griffin, he snapped at her, "Jennifer, you've been about the worst. The one who misrepresents the most intentionally what, what, the president says."
According to the Illinois Democrat, Hegseth specifically picked on his former Fox News colleague to send a message to other reporters.
"I think that attack on Jennifer Griffin of Fox News was meant to basically be a brushback pitch. Don't scrutinize us, don't criticize us, don't do the things that the press is required to do in any free society to hold us in check," he told host Jonathan Lemire.
"So I hope that you folks continue to do the good work that you do," he continued. "But I think this was intentional, again, along the lines of what they're saying with leaked information. They say that this information that came out in the DIA assessment was somehow leaked and therefore they're not going to share information with Congress."
"Well, look, we have to pursue leaks, of course, but my concern here is that they're trying to suppress facts, not just suppress leaks and that's dangerous," he added.
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