Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ignored concerns about leaking classified information by pressuring airmen to do a '60 Minutes' interview, CNN reported.
According to a Saturday article, Hegseth and political appointees in his department pressured two crew members of an F-15 to take part in a '60 Minutes' story that will air on Sunday. Ultimately, one airman agreed to the interview while the other declined, according to CNN.
The two were shot down over Iran and then rescued in April. Multiple anonymous sources told CNN that Hegseth went as far as meeting with them personally about going on '60 Minutes.' Hegseth ignored concerns from military officials that the interview risked exposing classified details of the rescue effort, three anonymous sources told CNN.
The network that runs '60 Minutes' has also recently undergone a notable overhaul and lost many veteran correspondents and producers since conservative Bari Weiss took over as CBS News Editor-in-Chief with the backing of Trump ally and Paramount CEO David Ellison.
Two anonymous sources told CNN that political appointees in Hegseth's office were adamant about both F-15 crew members sitting for the interview, which will be part of the Sunday premiere kicking off the new season of '60 Minutes.'
After both airmen raised their concerns, Hegseth personally met with them in private and asked whether they wanted to cooperate, sources told CNN. Hegseth's office has been trying to craft the narrative around the Iran war as it has become increasingly unpopular, CNN noted.
CNN couldn't identify the two airmen in the interview, as the Pentagon hasn't publicly released their names. The Pentagon also denied the reporting when CNN reached them for comment.
"This entire story is a complete lie," chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told CNN. "The decision to participate in the interview was each pilot's alone."
CNN also noted that the major news outlets, including CNN, were eager to interview the pilots earlier this year, but Weiss personally lobbied Hegseth to give the interview to CBS, three sources at CBS told CNN.