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Pete Hegseth: “There was zero impropriety [in the financial management of…”

Featuring: Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense | National

Pete Hegseth Speaks Out, On Media Smears, Responding to Accusations, and How He'd Reform Military

Published December 4, 2024 | Video Starts at 40:25

And I moved on. But in doing so, I felt a personal responsibility to make sure we were even when it was done. But There was zero impropriety [in the financial management of Vets for Freedom]. There wasn't a dollar spent that we weren't proud of spending on behalf of a cause we believed in. We were just amateurs at that moment in time. (40:25–40:28)

CLAIM

Asserts that there was no financial impropriety at Vets for Freedom.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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Pete Hegseth

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“I want lethality, lethality, lethality. I want readiness, accountability standards, war fighting.”
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“Clean house of the woke crap. All that stuff, all the, the climate stuff and the CRT and the DEI and the genderism and the get rid of it.”
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“Let's bring the Pentagon back to the people, the people's Pentagon for war fighters.”
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“The advise and consent process is a real thing.”
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“Fox... identified it as anonymous and salacious and ridiculous at the time.”
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“That's their playbook. Get ready for more. And they're going to make it up just like they have so far.”
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“All anonymous, all innuendo, all rumor, nothing sourced, no verification.”
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“You're a threat to their system. You're a threat to all the things in Washington, D.C. the swamp.”
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“What you're seeing right now with me is the art of the smear.”
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“They never asked the people who were involved directly.”
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“Usually from disgruntled people who were fired for cause, who are jealous or want a little bit of retribution.”
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“I've never had a drinking problem.”
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“We’ve got an epidemic of [depression and suicide] in our country.”
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“I'm also the right guy to be in the Pentagon to understand what our young water fighters are going through.”
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“Are we wiping away the garbage of political correct social justice nonsense and focusing just on lethality and meritocracy?”
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“Men and women like that are going to fight future wars, that Donald Trump's going to have to make a decision about whether we enter or not.”
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“I've been honest about that encounter, starting with law enforcement.”
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“They looked into it and said, no way. We're not charging on this at all.”
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“The military hasn't been sufficiently addressed, what some women in the military go through.”
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“All of those allegations are anonymous. All of them are unsubstantiated.”
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“The idea that it was constantly being carried up anywhere is patently false.”
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“NBC is going to do is make up anonymous sources, none of which are close to me, none of which know me, claiming that I had a drinking…”
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“I'm not going to have a drink at all [while serving as Secretary of Defense].”
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“It's not true [that Vets for Freedom wound up in enormous debt and couldn't pay its creditors].”
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“We paid it all off and we squared it away [regarding the debt of Vets for Freedom].”
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“There's not a single vets group in the country that accomplished more in a smaller amount of time than [Concerned Veterans for America] did.”
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“The Veterans Accountability act and the Choice act for vets, we were the intellectual Harbin. We started that movement.”
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“They're agenda drivers whose whole job is to try to destroy anyone who supports Donald Trump.”
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“I've had senators look me in the eye, friends. Great. Said they're trying to kill you.”
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“I pray that he gives me the opportunity to serve my country as the Secretary of Defense.”
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“Ultimately, we live in one of the most dangerous times since the end of the Cold War.”
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“The Communist Chinese are rapidly trying to build a military that outpaces ours.”
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