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Tom Cotton calls on West Point to investigate reports it lied to the press
https://justthenews.com ^ | 12/11/2024 | Misty Severi

Posted on 12/11/2024 8:29:58 PM PST by bitt

West Point said the discrepancy on Hegseth's relationship with the school was because of an "administrative error" but that a further review confirmed that he was accepted into West Point in 1999, but did not attend the university.

Republican Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton on Wednesday called for the U.S. Military Academy at West Point to conduct an internal investigation into allegations that it repeatedly lied to a member of the press about Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth.

A reporter at ProPublica claimed that an official at the school told them on the record twice that Hegseth was never accepted into the military academy, and had lied about his relationship with the school. Hegseth claimed that he was accepted to the school, but did not attend, which the academy has since confirmed.

ProPublica decided not to run the story after Hegseth posted a photo of his acceptance letter, but conservatives, including Cotton, have questioned why the left-leaning publication did not do a report on the mistakes that the school made.

“Officials at the U.S. Military Academy should not be feeding lies to left-wing reporters about President Trump’s nominees,” Cotton posted on X. “West Point needs to thoroughly investigate this egregiously bad judgement and potential violation of the Privacy Act immediately.”

Cotton also shared a copy of the letter he sent West Point Superintendent Lieutenant General Steven W. Gilland, which claimed the error could have violated the 1974 Privacy Act for revealing personal information about the former Fox anchor.

Vice President-elect JD Vance, who is also a senator, targeted the ProPublica reporter, accusing them of failing to report the "actual story" of being lied to.

(Excerpt) Read more at justthenews.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: alexgriffing; alexgriffting; hegseth; jdvance; jesseeisinger; leftpoint; media; mediaite; military; mistyseveri; msm; petehegseth; propubica; propublica; stevenwgilland; tomcotton; westpoint; wokepoint
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1 posted on 12/11/2024 8:29:58 PM PST by bitt
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To: null and void; aragorn; EnigmaticAnomaly; kalee; Kale; AZ .44 MAG; Baynative; bgill; bitt; ...

P


2 posted on 12/11/2024 8:30:11 PM PST by bitt (<img src=' 'width=30%>)
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To: bitt

The Lying Gaslight Media and The Left-wing Commies at Woke Point...


3 posted on 12/11/2024 8:37:25 PM PST by kiryandil (No one in AZ that voted for Trump voted for Gallego )
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To: bitt

West Point is going to get a thorough house cleaning.


4 posted on 12/11/2024 8:42:13 PM PST by Ge0ffrey
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To: Ge0ffrey

From your lips to God’s ears.


5 posted on 12/11/2024 8:56:37 PM PST by DarrellZero
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To: bitt

Busted.


6 posted on 12/11/2024 8:59:54 PM PST by philman_36 (Pride breakfasted with plenty, dined with poverty and supped with infamy. Benjamin Franklin)
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To: bitt

“I will not lie, cheat, or steal, and I will not tolerate anyone who does” is sooooo 2019.


7 posted on 12/11/2024 9:02:28 PM PST by coloradan (They're not the mainstream media, they're the gaslight media. It's what they do. )
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To: bitt

BTTT


8 posted on 12/11/2024 9:07:15 PM PST by nopardons
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To: bitt

Nice that West Point got off on the right foot with their new leader.

Morons.


9 posted on 12/11/2024 9:14:08 PM PST by DesertRhino (2016 Star Wars, 2020 The Empire Strikes Back, 2024... RETURN OF THE JEDI..)
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What’s with Cotton’s conservative pronouncements? Compensating?


10 posted on 12/11/2024 9:17:06 PM PST by Gene Eric
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To: bitt


11 posted on 12/11/2024 9:43:05 PM PST by Iron Munro (MAGA voters just wiped the floor with the most powerful criminal syndicate on earth)
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To: bitt

I actually do not consider this a lie per se. It is one thing if they actually knew he applied and claimed he did not. I think this a case of not checking all of the records (and probably reviewing the wrong time period).

So reporter, when did he graduate from high school? A: 2003 Well let me look at the 2003 records. Nope we have no record of him applying here.

How is the clerk supposed to know he applied a couple of years before he graduated from high school?

The term “lied” gets bandied around a lot when the actual action is not a lie.

As determined in this instance, the Academy did not check the full set of the potential records base. And nor should they have. They should have responded, it is none of your business whether we have a record of his applying to West Point.


12 posted on 12/11/2024 10:02:05 PM PST by Steven Scharf
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To: Steven Scharf

He graduated high school in 1999. Had he attended West Point he would have graduated in 2003. Hence, West Point class of 2003.


13 posted on 12/12/2024 1:05:49 AM PST by VeniVidiVici (If you're Black don't Vote Blue cuz then you'll just be Black and Blue)
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To: bitt

Looks like even WEST POINT IS CORRUPT!!


14 posted on 12/12/2024 1:32:19 AM PST by Ann Archy (Abortion....... The HUMAN Sacrifice to the god of Convenience.)
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To: bitt; All

Where did the original tip that Hegseth was never accepted come from ?

Somebody fed that to ProPublica. If they are trying to derail Hegseth why not just leak it to the NYT ?

When there is a leak to an overtly ideological publiation like Pro Publica or the Washington Examiner it is usually to disguise the leak source. So Dems leaking against Dems will use a right wing publication like the Examiner.

My guess (speculation alert) is that this came from Repubs on the Hill leaking to give themselves a reason to force Hegseth aside or vote against him.


15 posted on 12/12/2024 2:14:27 AM PST by Reverend Wright ( Everything touched by progressives, dies !)
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To: Reverend Wright

Suspect the Turtle behind the scene muckraking. He needs go be gone. Yesterday.


16 posted on 12/12/2024 2:29:52 AM PST by Kudsman (Hey,, Democrat,,leave them kids alone!)
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To: coloradan

and then they graduate.


17 posted on 12/12/2024 3:54:42 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Steven Scharf
They should have responded, it is none of your business whether we have a record of his applying to West Point.

But is THAT statement a lie?

18 posted on 12/12/2024 3:55:54 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Ge0ffrey

West Point has become a Woke, DEI Infested Institution.
Heads must roll. And its mission must get back to training
our Nation’s Warriors.


19 posted on 12/12/2024 4:59:19 AM PST by tennmountainman ( (“Less propaganda would be appreciated.” JimRob 12-2-2023 DITTO)
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To: Steven Scharf
How is the clerk supposed to know he applied a couple of years before he graduated from high school?

She's not, because he didn't. He graduated high school in 1999, and from Princeton in 2003, The military academies don't give appointments to underclassmen anyway.

It likely wasn't a lie, but I'd bet the farm it was a reckless indifference to the truth. Whomever looked it up likely already had a crappy opinion of Hegseth, assumed Hegseth was lying about the appointment, and so did a half-ass job of checking...if they checked at all.

Still some good people at the Academies but a buttload has changed, and not for the better. Went back for my 40th at Navy recently, and some of the modifications are rather shocking. And not just tech stuff, either. An across the board lowering of discipline and intensity.

That being said, you can still go there and have a very positive experience and learn a ton if that's what you want. It's just easier to skate past a lot of the military stuff if that's your angle.

20 posted on 12/12/2024 5:04:54 AM PST by Bruce Campbells Chin ( )
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