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Pete Hegseth’s Patriotic Duty Is to Resign (Atlantic) - Gift Article.
His incompetence is putting America’s security at risk.
By Tom Nichols
"Pete Hegseth was never qualified to be the secretary of defense. Donald Trump should never have nominated him, Hegseth should never have accepted the nomination, and the Senate should never have confirmed him. Alas, qualifications, self-knowledge, and the courage of Senate Republicans are all things of the past, and for three months now, Hegseth has been a proven failure as a secretary of defense. If the president still refuses to fire him, he should resign.
....
Hegseth, a former Army major and talk-show host, has bungled one issue after another. His anti-wokeness campaign has removed I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings from the Naval Academy’s library while leaving Mein Kampf on its shelves. (The MAGA base might not have a problem with that choice, but the book-banning has been an embarrassment to the Navy even in the eyes of some Annapolis alumni. Both, along with many other now-removed books, should remain on the shelves.) He stumbled through an uproar about a planned Pentagon briefing to Elon Musk concerning possible war plans with China, an event for which conflict of interest isn’t a big-enough term. (Musk never got the classified presentation; according to Axios, Trump himself asking “What the **** is Elon doing there?” had Musk’s access rescinded.)
And of course, Hegseth was at the center of the Signalgate scandal—or, I should say, the first Signalgate scandal, the one instigated by Mike Waltz, the president’s national security adviser. Waltz convened a highly sensitive meeting about an imminent U.S. military strike on Houthi terrorists using an insecure chat app, and then accidentally included The Atlantic’s editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, in the proceedings. Waltz made a major mistake, but Hegseth managed to eclipse even Waltz’s forehead-smacking poor judgment: Hours before U.S. missiles were due to launch and American pilots were about to take to the skies against Houthi defenses, Hegseth sent along detailed attack plans for the strike to the group chat, a needless bit of showing off that could have gotten U.S. military personnel killed."
But, that is not all. He has continued to violate all kinds of security protocols and federal laws. 18 U.S.C. ch. 37. §793. Gathering, transmitting or losing defense information
"(f) Whoever, being entrusted with or having lawful possession or control of any ... plan, ... note, or information, relating to the national defense, (1) through gross negligence permits the same to be removed from its proper place of custody or delivered to anyone in violation of his trust, ... Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both." That's felony. There are others.
In the absence of resignation or removal by the President, he should be impeached. US Constitution, Article II, Section 4: "The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors." He needs to be gone, immediately. The safety of the nation requires it.
His incompetence is putting America’s security at risk.
By Tom Nichols
"Pete Hegseth was never qualified to be the secretary of defense. Donald Trump should never have nominated him, Hegseth should never have accepted the nomination, and the Senate should never have confirmed him. Alas, qualifications, self-knowledge, and the courage of Senate Republicans are all things of the past, and for three months now, Hegseth has been a proven failure as a secretary of defense. If the president still refuses to fire him, he should resign.
....
Hegseth, a former Army major and talk-show host, has bungled one issue after another. His anti-wokeness campaign has removed I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings from the Naval Academy’s library while leaving Mein Kampf on its shelves. (The MAGA base might not have a problem with that choice, but the book-banning has been an embarrassment to the Navy even in the eyes of some Annapolis alumni. Both, along with many other now-removed books, should remain on the shelves.) He stumbled through an uproar about a planned Pentagon briefing to Elon Musk concerning possible war plans with China, an event for which conflict of interest isn’t a big-enough term. (Musk never got the classified presentation; according to Axios, Trump himself asking “What the **** is Elon doing there?” had Musk’s access rescinded.)
And of course, Hegseth was at the center of the Signalgate scandal—or, I should say, the first Signalgate scandal, the one instigated by Mike Waltz, the president’s national security adviser. Waltz convened a highly sensitive meeting about an imminent U.S. military strike on Houthi terrorists using an insecure chat app, and then accidentally included The Atlantic’s editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, in the proceedings. Waltz made a major mistake, but Hegseth managed to eclipse even Waltz’s forehead-smacking poor judgment: Hours before U.S. missiles were due to launch and American pilots were about to take to the skies against Houthi defenses, Hegseth sent along detailed attack plans for the strike to the group chat, a needless bit of showing off that could have gotten U.S. military personnel killed."
But, that is not all. He has continued to violate all kinds of security protocols and federal laws. 18 U.S.C. ch. 37. §793. Gathering, transmitting or losing defense information
"(f) Whoever, being entrusted with or having lawful possession or control of any ... plan, ... note, or information, relating to the national defense, (1) through gross negligence permits the same to be removed from its proper place of custody or delivered to anyone in violation of his trust, ... Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both." That's felony. There are others.
In the absence of resignation or removal by the President, he should be impeached. US Constitution, Article II, Section 4: "The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors." He needs to be gone, immediately. The safety of the nation requires it.
