West Point falsely told ProPublica that Hegseth was never accepted into the academy
A watchdog group sued the United States Military Academy at West Point on Tuesday for allegedly withholding public records related to false claims the school made to the press regarding Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s ties to the academy.
The Center to Advance Security in America, a national security watchdog group, said West Point is stonewalling its Freedom of Information Act request for records that could shed light on why the school falsely told a left-wing news outlet in December that Hegseth was never accepted to attend the academy in 1999. A West Point spokesman told ProPublica that the school was “absolutely 100%” confident that Hegseth never even applied to the academy. But that was false—Hegseth posted his West Point acceptance letter to X on Dec. 11, forcing West Point to admit it gave an “incorrect statement” to ProPublica.
The Center to Advance Security in America said it filed its records request to determine whether West Point attempted to deceive the public with its initial statements to ProPublica. Nearly 60 days have passed since it filed that request, but the group said Tuesday that West Point has not provided any records within the time period required by law. The group said in its lawsuit Tuesday that “immediate judicial review” is warranted to force West Point into fulfilling its document request.
“The American people deserve transparency from government officials, especially those using their positions to influence the confirmation process of a cabinet appointee,” Center to Advance Security in America director James Fitzpatrick told the Washington Free Beacon. “CASA is filing this lawsuit to force West Point to release the records and communications related to the interactions between its employees, ProPublica, and any other media outlet regarding the Academy’s denial of Secretary Hegseth’s acceptance in 1999, particularly if these communications involved any attempts of deceit of the public.”
The group’s Freedom of Information Act request seeks all communications from the West Point public affairs office about Hegseth’s acceptance into the academy to a variety of news outlets including ProPublica, the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, and the Associated Press.
West Point distributed false information about Hegseth’s ties to the academy amid a media feeding frenzy into anonymously sourced allegations that the then-nominee was an alcoholic, abused women, and engaged in financial mismanagement in his prior roles at Fox News and the Concerned Veterans for America nonprofit group. Hegseth denied all the allegations, which he called a “coordinated smear campaign,” and he was confirmed as defense secretary by a 51 to 50 vote on Jan. 24.
ProPublica editor Jesse Eisinger said in a Dec. 11 post on X that the outlet thought it had the “makings of a significant story” after West Point public affairs officers told its reporter that the school was “absolutely 100%” confident that “Hegseth had not applied for admission to the U.S. Military Academy.”
If true, this would have presented a serious problem for Hegseth, who said several times throughout 2024 that he was admitted to West Point in 1999 but decided to attend Princeton instead.
ProPublica then reached out to Hegseth’s attorney, Timothy Parlatore, with an “urgent” request asking how Hegseth could serve as secretary of defense “given that he has made false statements about getting in to the military’s most prestigious academy.” ProPublica gave Parlatore one hour to respond, according to emails obtained by the Daily Caller.
Instead of answering ProPublica’s questions directly, Hegseth took to X and posted his letter of acceptance to West Point in 1999.
“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,” Hegseth wrote. “Here’s my letter of acceptance signed by West Point Superintendent, Lieutenant General Daniel Christman, US Army.”
Hours later, West Point admitted it gave an “incorrect statement” to ProPublica about Hegseth’s admission to the academy.
“Mr. Hegseth was offered acceptance to West Point as a prospective member of the class of 2003,” West Point told ProPublica on Dec. 11. “[The U.S. Military Academy] takes this situation very seriously, and we apologize for this administrative error.”
West Point did not immediately return a request for comment.
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