Hegseth Announces New Effort to Identify, Prosecute Media Leakers

The subpoenas drew sharp criticism from The New York Times and press freedom advocates, who argued the administration was attempting to intimidate news organizations through its investigation, The Hill reported.

“Our journalists report the facts and advance the American public’s right to know how their government is operating and their taxpayer dollars are being used,” Times attorney David McCraw said in a statement.

“This brazen act should be seen as nothing more than an attempt to prevent the public from knowing what is happening in their country by intimidating journalists from doing their jobs,” he added.

In fact, The Times has repeatedly published false and misleading information, especially when it comes to Trump and his administration.

The paper was among many other legacy media outlets, for instance, that ran with the false claim that Trump and Russia “colluded” to “steal” the 2016 election from Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

The paper also falsely claimed on several occasions that damning and incriminatory information about Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden, and other family members found on a laptop the first son abandoned at a repair shop was “Russian disinformation.”

Since taking over the Pentagon, Hegseth has made preventing unauthorized disclosures to the media a priority.

Last year, the War Department launched investigations into personnel accused of leaking classified information to the press and warned that polygraph examinations could be used as part of those inquiries.

Among those investigated were several of Hegseth’s senior aides, including former senior adviser Dan Caldwell and former deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick.