DENY, DEFLECT, COUNTERATTACK: After speaking by phone to President Donald Trump Sunday night, embattled Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth employed his textbook, “admit nothing, deny everything, attack the media,” defense at the White House Easter egg roll as the latest allegations that he used the Signal app on a second occasion to share sensitive operational details with unauthorized parties, including his wife.
In his two-minute harangue on the White House lawn, Hegseth railed against what he called “slash and burn Democrats” and “fake news” media “hoaxsters that peddle anonymous sources from leakers with axes to grind,” without ever addressing whether he did what he’s accused of doing. “This is what the media does. They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees, and then they try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations. Not going to work with me,” he said to reporters.
