FIRST ON FOX: The U.S. Military Academy at West Point is apologizing after an employee wrongly said Pete Hegseth was not accepted by the historic military college, and now a lawmaker is demanding accountability.
Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., accused West Point administrators of trying to “sabotage” Hegseth’s business operations. to be a nomination The Secretary of Defense of newly elected President Trump.
Banks are now demanding information about how the error could have occurred.
“As you know, ProPublica reporter Jesse Eisinger had been preparing to publish a story falsely claiming that Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth was lying when he said he had been admitted to West Point, but had decided not to be present,” Banks wrote.
“To prevent the publication of a blatantly false story, Hegseth published his West Point acceptance letter, proving the veracity of his claim and prompting ProPublica to quash the story. Eisinger defended his reporting, claiming that West Point OPA “twice” him officially told’.’ that Hegseth had not even applied to West Point.
Rep. Jim Banks, pictured left, demands to know how West Point could falsely tell a reporter that Pete Hegseth, right, was not accepted. (Getty Images)
“That’s outrageous West Point officials would thus grossly interfere with a political process and make false claims about a presidential candidate.
“Even in the unlikely scenario where OPA falsely makes false claims not once but twice, it is an inexcusable act of incompetence that OPA was not absolutely certain that their information was accurate before sharing it with a reporter.”
He asked the school to provide Congress with “all communications and documentation regarding how West Point OPA falsely accused Hegseth of lying on his application.”
When reached for comment, West Point apologized for the error and said academy records show Hegseth was hired in 1999 but did not attend.
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President-elect Donald Trump has appointed Hegseth as Secretary of Defense. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
“An incorrect statement regarding Hegseth’s admission to the United States Military Academy was released by an employee on December 10, 2024. Upon further review of an archived database, employees realized this statement was incorrect. Hegseth was offered acceptance to West Point as a candidate. member of the Class of 2003. The academy takes this situation seriously and apologizes for this administrative error,” West Point Communications Directorate said.
Hegseth is an Army National Guard veteran who served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
It comes as he has continued meeting with senators as part of the confirmation process to join the next Trump administration.
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Banks, an Army veteran himself, has been a staunch ally of Hegseth. His support will be crucial next year as he won a landslide victory in November to become Indiana’s next senator.
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Eisinger, an editor at ProPublica, defended the publisher’s handling of the situation in a long series of posts on X.
“No, we’re not publishing a story. This is how journalism is supposed to work. Hear something. Check something. Repeat steps 1 and 2 as many times as necessary. The end,” he said.
Banks told Fox News Digital: “Pete Hegseth will shake up the Department of Defense and take the wokeness out of our military and military academies. This upsets the bureaucrats at West Point who now appear to be trying to sabotage his appointment.”
