FIRST ON FOX: The U.S. Military Academy at West Point is apologizing after an employee mistakenly said Pete Hegseth was not accepted by the historic military college, and now a lawmaker is seeking accountability.
Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., accused West Point administrators of trying to “sabotage” Hegseth’s nomination to be President-elect Trump’s secretary of defense.
Banks is now demanding information on how the error was allowed to occur.
“As you know, ProPublica reporter Jesse Eisinger had been preparing to publish a story falsely claiming that nominee for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, was lying when he said that he was admitted into West Point but decided not to attend,” Banks wrote.
“To preempt the publication of a blatantly false story, Hegseth published his West Point acceptance letter, proving the veracity of his claim and leading ProPublica to kill the story. Eisinger defended his reporting, claiming that West Point OPA told him ‘twice on the record’ that Hegseth had not even applied to West Point.”
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Rep. Jim Banks, left, is demanding to know how West Point was able to tell a reporter in “error” that Pete Hegseth was not accepted. (Getty Images)
“It is outrageous that West Point officials would so grossly interfere in a political process and make false claims regarding a presidential nominee,” he continued.
“Even in the unlikely scenario of OPA mistakenly making false claims not once but twice, it is an unforgivable act of incompetence that OPA did not make absolutely sure their information was accurate before sharing it with a reporter.”
Banks asked the school to hand Congress “all communication and documentation regarding how West Point OPA falsely accused Hegseth of lying about his application.”
When reached for comment, West Point apologized for the error and said the academy’s records indicate Hegseth was accepted in 1999 but did not attend.
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President-elect Trump tapped Hegseth to be his defense secretary. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
“An incorrect statement involving Hegseth’s admission to the U.S. Military Academy was released by an employee on Dec. 10, 2024. Upon further review of an archived database, employees realized this statement was in error. Hegseth was offered acceptance to West Point as a prospective member of the Class of 2003. The academy takes this situation seriously and apologizes for this administrative error,” the West Point directorate of communications said.
Hegseth is a veteran of the Army National Guard 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, has been a staunch ally of Hegseth’s. His support will be critical next year, having won a landslide victory in November to be Indiana’s next senator.
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Eisinger, an editor at ProPublica, defended the outlet’s handling of the situation in a lengthy series of posts on X.
“No, we are 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 needed. The end,” he said.
Banks told Fox News Digital, “Pete Hegseth will shake up the DOD and eliminate wokeness from our military and military academies. This upsets the bureaucrats at West Point, who now seem to be trying to sabotage his nomination.”