Pete Hegseth is reportedly running for Tennessee Governor, and the Pentagon continues to quarrel.
Sources told NBC News that the U.S. Secretary of Defense privately discussed the state’s campaign for the state with two people, one of whom said their conversation had occurred in the past few weeks.
Mr. Heggs is under pressure for a monitoring report expected to be released in weeks of the “Signal Gate” debacle, in which he accidentally leaked the U.S. military plan to a reporter.
One said they spoke with the Secretary of Defense from Minnesota but living in Tennessee about the qualification requirements for the Governor’s traditionally dominant state governor.
Mr. Heggs would face difficulties as he lived in Tennessee for only three years, rather than the seven years required, could face challenges from other Republicans.
The second source told NBC they spoke with Mr. Heggs about the reality of winning the campaign.
Pete Hegseth is under pressure in watchdog report expected to release to the “signal gate” malpractice
The Pentagon has backed off the story, insisting that Mr. Heggs “focused only on serving under President Donald Trump.”
If Mr. Heggs finally runs for the Governor’s Game in Tennessee for next year, he will be forced to resign from the cabinet because civilian employees in the Pentagon cannot seek government offices.
The former Fox News host ran for the Minnesota Senate seat in 2012 but failed to get a Republican nomination.
Mr. Heggs appeared this year when he accidentally leaked the U.S. military plan that attacked Yemeni Hesney rebel Jeffrey Goldberg, editor of the Atlantic, via messaging app signals.
The Pentagon is conducting an independent internal review of the scandal and is expected to be released in a few weeks.
Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell said in a memo to the department’s inspector general that its report was “apparently political witch hunting.”
“The whole exercise is false, out of malicious intention and extreme prejudice,” he claimed.
Hegseth vetoed in lie detector test
Mr. Heggs was reportedly rejected by the White House after being ordered by officials to obey lie detector tests to eradicate the leaker.
Mr. Heggs’s adviser Patrick Weaver was angry at the demand and complained to senior government figures, according to the Washington Post.
The White House is said to have told the Secretary of Defense to stop the test by phone by individuals approaching the administration.
The Pentagon declined to comment on what is called a “ongoing investigation” and condemns newspapers’ concerns about “months of workplace gossip.”
Mr. Trump overturned his defense secretary for the second time after the president stopped Mr. Hegses’ order to stop important military aid sent to Ukraine, and Mr. Hegses made a decision without notifying the White House.
“Hergs has no trusted consultant’
Sources suggested to CNN that the root of the disaster was that Mr. Heggs, who had never served as a government job before, did not have a chief of staff or a trusted adviser to guide him in coordinating major policy decisions.
He reportedly relied heavily on his wife, Jennifer, to help him make the decision.
In April, three senior aides were fired during a leak investigation, then claimed they were smeared by an “unfounded attack” by officials.
A few days later, press assistant John Ullyot said he was asked to resign and described the department as a “mature collapse” and said it was difficult to see Mr. Heggs remained in the position after repeated scandals.
Mr Parnell said in a statement: “Fake news NBC is so eager to pay attention and they are shopping around a fabricated story….
“There are only two options: ‘The source is fictional, or these journalists are in trouble. Secretary Heggs’ focus is still just to serve under President Trump and to advance the first mission of the United States at the Department of Defense.”
Another told the news outlet that they had spoken with Mr. Heggs about whether he was considering leaving the cabinet and he was “very very, very clear” that he would stay where he was.
