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Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth finds himself under fire again -- this
time from political skeptics or foes across the political spectrum. But
just as the case was during the recent presidential transition period,
when Trump opponents resuscitated the discredited 2018 Brett Kavanaugh/Christine Blasey Ford playbook in an attempt to derail Hegseth's nomination, the stakes now are much higher than Hegseth's job security
helming the Pentagon.

When he was up for the nomination, Democrats and their corporate media
allies went all in in an attempt to destroy Hegseth. Like the anti-
Kavanaugh campaign in September 2018, when the then-pending Supreme Court nominee was accused of everything from sexual assault to gang rape, the
recent anti-Hegseth operation accused the two-time Bronze Star-decorated veteran of recurring alcoholism, having a ruinous Bill Clinton-esque
libido, and yes, rape. But the concerted effort to sink Hegseth's
nomination was not actually about Hegseth: It was an attempt to chum the waters, demonstrate Trumpian vulnerability and sabotage the incoming administration before it even took office. Thankfully, the cynical effort failed. And military recruitment, perhaps Hegseth's single most important
Day One priority, has already greatly benefited.

Fast-forward a bit. Hegseth was one of the main Trump administration
officials caught in the crosshairs of last month's "Signalgate" group chat controversy, which saw sensitive military information about the United
States' attack plans on the Yemen-based Houthi terrorists inexplicably delivered to the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg. The contents of the leaked chat revealed a Trump administration that is
internally divided on matters of foreign policy -- in particular as it
pertains to the Islamic Republic of Iran and its regional proxies, such as
the Houthis. Iran doves and anti-Israel provocateurs tendentiously seized
the opportunity to attempt to excise a convenient "neocon" scalp --
whether that be Hegseth or national security adviser Michael Waltz. But
both Hegseth and Waltz kept their jobs.

Since "Signalgate," there have been two additional Hegseth-related developments. Last Sunday, The New York Times reported that Hegseth had
shared sensitive information about the Houthi attack plans in a second
group chat that included his wife and brother, among others. Hegseth
admitted to this second chat's existence but claimed no harm was done.
Around the same time, three high-ranking Department of Defense officials -
- Deputy Chief of Staff Darin Selnick, longtime Hegseth friend and
confidante Dan Caldwell, and the chief of staff to the deputy defense secretary, Colin Carroll -- were first placed on leave, and then fired,
amid an ongoing Pentagon leak investigation.

The cashiering of Caldwell is notable because of his longstanding
relationship with Hegseth. The dismissal suggests that Hegseth is
committed to leaving no stone unturned and is willing to go scorched earth
on one-time allies, if need be, to regain operational control of his leak- addled Pentagon. But the reaction to the firings, and Caldwell's immediate conduct afterward, are highly telling. What the Pentagon firings aftermath reveals, in short, is the same thing last month's original leaked Signal
chat revealed: a Trump administration deeply divided on issues of foreign policy, especially pertaining to Iran.

Caldwell, who spent his immediate pre-administration years working for
various Koch-funded isolationist outfits, is an Iran dove. In the earliest
days of the Biden administration, Caldwell even went so far as to praise
Robert Malley -- Biden's execrable choice for special envoy to Iran, and previously the chief American negotiator for former President Barack
Obama's 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Shortly after being fired from the
Pentagon, Caldwell promptly went on the popular show of the nation's best- known Iran dove, Tucker Carlson -- a man who just referred to Iran hawks
as "enemies" of the United States -- to tell his side of the story.
Caldwell's narrative was pure victimhood: He argued that his Pentagon
tenure threatened "established interests," and he dismissed leak
accusations. Given that his old ally Hegseth fired him and is now
recommending he be prosecuted, Caldwell's tale doesn't pass the laugh
test.

But the entire saga is illuminating.

At a time when the liberal Times was yet again trying to get Hegseth
fired, Carlson decided to use his platform to glorify an Iran dove
Pentagon leaker, thus necessarily calling into question Hegseth's
leadership. Truly, one must wonder why supposed allies of President Donald Trump would decide to capitalize on the Times' reporting and throw Hegseth under the bus at such a vulnerable moment. Shouldn't outside "allies" have followed the lead of Vice President JD Vance and Trump himself and
defended Hegseth to the hilt? One of Carlson's lesser-known acolytes, the unctuous American Conservative Executive Director Curt Mills, said the
quiet part out loud: "The reality is operational -- Hegseth is just not up
to this."

The backdrop for all this high drama, adding yet another twist to this elaborate puzzle, is the administration's ongoing Iran nuclear
negotiations, which are led by Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Those negotiations will resume this weekend in Oman. Witkoff is a
billionaire real estate investor with no particular knowledge of the
Middle East. In 2023, Witkoff sold his Park Lane Hotel in New York City to
the Qatar Investment Authority for $623 million, and perhaps not coincidentally, in January he went on TV to praise Qatar for "doing God's work." In the Carlson/Caldwell interview, Caldwell referred to the
generally clueless Witkoff as a "godsend," and Carlson hailed him an "instrument of peace." Carlson, notably, recently hosted the prime
minister of Qatar and praised him for seeking to stop military action
against Qatar's chief regional ally, Iran.

One starts to see what is really going on here.

The good news is that Trump himself is clear-eyed on matters pertaining to Iran. So too, it seems, is his secretary of defense. One must thus
conclude that Hegseth's right-leaning detractors are simply frustrated
that the president is not as pro-Iran as they are. That would explain why
these Trump "allies" are teaming up with the Times in yet another attempt
to destroy Hegseth.

https://townhall.com/columnists/joshhammer/2025/04/25/the-pete-hegseth- red-herring-and-the-gops-foreign-policy-civil-war-n2656057

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