Pete Hegseth Immediately Shuts Down “Hit Piece” by Bringing the Receipts They Didn’t Know He Had

Pete Hegseth Shuts Down West Point Smear With Receipts

Pete Hegseth, a decorated combat veteran and President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, has found himself at the center of a brewing media controversy — but this time, he brought the receipts.

The dust-up began when investigative outlet ProPublica looked into Hegseth’s claim that he was accepted to West Point back in 1999 but chose instead to attend Princeton, where he joined the ROTC. After contacting West Point public affairs for verification, ProPublica says it was told — not once, but twice — that Hegseth had not even applied to the academy.

Sounds damning, right? Except it wasn’t true.

Hegseth took to X (formerly Twitter) and posted a photo of his original 1999 acceptance letter to West Point, signed by then-Superintendent Lt. Gen. Daniel Christman. He called out ProPublica directly, writing:

“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…”

To its credit, ProPublica didn’t run the piece after receiving the letter. Senior editor Jesse Eisinger acknowledged the error publicly, tweeting:

“We asked West Pt public affairs, which told us twice on the record that he hadn’t even applied there. We reached out. Hegseth’s spox gave us his acceptance letter. We didn’t publish a story. That’s journalism.”

While the issue appears settled, it raises a bigger question: why did West Point provide incorrect information about a high-profile nominee’s admissions history — not once, but repeatedly?

One commenter summed up the concern many share:

“Are you interested in investigating why West Point Public Affairs lied to you repeatedly… or would looking into that clear scandal not be journalism?”

Whether it was an honest mix-up or something more questionable, Hegseth’s quick move to publish hard proof defused the story before it spread. For now, he remains on track for his nomination — and with one less false rumor to answer for.