EXCLUSIVE: Emails, Phone Logs Reveal How Botched Pete Hegseth West Point Story Imploded

Daily Caller ^ | 12/12/24 | Reagan Reese

[CFW]

After a West Point spokesperson falsely claimed that Pete Hegseth had not even applied to the institution, much less been accepted, journalism outfit ProPublica reached out to Hegseth’s lawyer, asserting that the Secretary of Defense nominee had lied and gave him a one hour deadline to respond.

Hegseth posted on Wednesday morning a photo of his acceptance to West Point and said ProPublica was planning on posting “a knowingly false report” that he was not accepted to the school in 1999. ProPublica editor Jesse Eisinger then responded with a Twitter thread, explaining that the outlet had done “real journalism” and determined something they heard was not true and that they would not be posting their story. Eisinger wrote that journalists must give the subject of a story a “fair chance to respond to all of the salient facts in the story.”

We understand that ProPublica (the Left Wing hack group) is planning to publish a knowingly false report that I was not accepted to West Point in 1999.

Here’s my letter of acceptance signed by West Point Superintendent, Lieutenant General Daniel Christman, US Army. pic.twitter.com/UOhOVZSfhJ

— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) December 11, 2024

However, emails and apparent phone transcripts obtained by the Caller reveal that ProPublica themselves did not do that in pursuit of the Hegseth story.

[CFW]

When busted, reporters respond "I just reported what I was told!". But they more often than not are lying. They manipulate information, report comments out of context, and often email subjects giving them only minutes to respond before publishing hit articles.

People are no longer trusting corporate media. Viewership for both MSNBC and CNN continue to drop. Plus, when seeing reporting from those such as Pro-Publica, most readers start with the premise that they are lying starting with the headline and ending with the final paragraph of any article.

[iamgalt]

The deep state/left is pulling out all the stops to block Pete. Pretty obvious he is the right man for the job.

[DesertRhino]

Pro Publica is full of it. If it was an innocent mistake on their part, we would be seeing a hard hitting investigative piece naming the person who gave them the fake story, how that conversation originated, and a deep dive into the history and motives of that person.

But we won’t. It was a deliberate attempt at slander and libel.

[lurk]

The first paragraph needs a comma. Punctuation still matters, even in 2024.

[monkeyshine]

They didn’t do “real journalism” and did not give the subject much time to respond. They could have taken many routes to find out if the story was true, including of course giving Hegseth ample time to respond or inquiring with West Point.

Now that the PP informant has been busted as a liar, will they cut him off from future stories? You’re right DR, they should out him or her to protect “real journalism” from known conmen, liars and “disinformationalists”. But they won’t.

[rlmorel]

Hehehehe...I get so few opportunities to post this!

(It's all in good fun, I hope you know! I focus on those things as well...:)

[cpdiii]

Occasionally the grammar Nazis get me to. I do not mind.

[Repealthe17thAmendment]

Hegseth will have an opportunity to correct the problems at West Point in January.

It can't come soon enough!

[philman_36]

40

I said two hours and it turns out it was less than that.
VERY well handled on his part.

[EQAndyBuzz]

There is a very big lawsuit here. Pete should sue them out of existence. You have a right to publish, but you do not have a right to lie. Besides college ethics, I believe Jefferson wrote some papers about the press. Some of them acknowledge that this would be evident.

All the reason to include the founding fathers and our laws early and often of grade school. I believed it was called “civics.”

[dodger]

TOTALLY against Federal Law (FERPA) to disclose information about students with penalties akin to disclosing health information ...

FERPA violations can result in civil and criminal penalties, including fines of up to $11,000 and possible imprisonment.

If an educational institution is found to have a “policy or practice” of violating FERPA, it could potentially lose all federal funding.

[dodger]

Big suit indeed, especially as there seems to be a malicious disclosure that is in error AND violates Federal Law (FERPA, mention in an above post).

[TexasGator]

He was not a student.

[Waverunner]

Any application records are considered student records for privacy consideration. That way joe dokes car sales school can’t divulge your ss number or income or credit card info.

[dodger]

FERPA covers all past and present student records including those of applicants.

[Chainmail]

Very funny!

[HenpeckedCon]

The first paragraph needs a comma. Punctuation still matters, even in 2024.
______________________________________________________________

Yes it does.
For instance.
Let’s eat Grandma.
Let’s eat, Grandma.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

You have a right to publish, but you do not have a right to lie.

Unless of course you believe the Warren Court’s infamous NY Times Co. v. Sullivan holding.

https://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/4281807/posts

Antonin Scalia’s Opinion of the New York Times Co. v. Sullivan Decision

youTube ^ | 2014 | Scalia, Ginsberg, & Kalb

[StAntKnee]

Don’t blame the press for this one necessarily. The Pentagon and all it’s slimy networks, meaning generals at the USMA, would only be too happy to pull something to paint Pete a liar.

[Bigg Red]

Exactly. Sure makes one wonder what they are afraid of.