FIRST ON FOX: It has been nearly a week since the United States Military Academy West Point admitted an error was made when an employee said Pete Hegseth’s application was not accepted, and President-elect Donald Trump’s Department of Defense secretary pick tells Fox News Digital he has yet to hear from the school directly.
“I would just say I haven’t heard from West Point,” Hegseth said Tuesday. “Nothing.”
When asked if he would like a direct apology from the school, the former Fox News host said, “One would think.”
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Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth has yet to hear from West Point Military Academy. (Getty)
ProPublica senior editor and reporter Jesse Eisinger explained last week on X that the outlet was informed twice by West Point that Hegseth had not even applied for admission. According to Eisinger, he was “100%” never admitted to the school, “because he never opened a file.”
However, Hegseth did apply to West Point and was accepted in 1999 but never attended.
The Defense secretary hopeful provided ProPublica with his original acceptance letter to the academy, and Eisinger said they reapproached West Point, which then admitted that an error was made.
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Pete Hegseth, center, has been making the rounds on Capitol Hill. (Tom Williams)
In a statement, West Point said, “A review of our records indicates Peter Hegseth was offered admission to West Point in 1999 but did not attend. An incorrect statement involving Hegseth’s admission to the U.S. Military Academy was released by an employee on Dec. 10, 2024.”
“Upon further review of an archived database, employees realized this statement was in error. Hegseth was offered acceptance to West Point as a prospective member of the Class of 2003. The academy takes this situation seriously and apologizes for this administrative error.”
When Hegseth was made aware of the story ProPublica had been working on, he shared his acceptance letter publicly on X. “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. Here’s my letter of acceptance signed by West Point Superintendent, Lieutenant General Daniel Christman, US Army.”
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The “error” at West Point left a number of Republicans with questions. In a Dec. 11 letter sent to U.S. Military Academy Superintendent Lieutenant General Steven Gilland after Hegseth revealed ProPublica’s story, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said, “I understand that a civilian public-affairs officer, Theresa Brinkerhoff, informed a reporter that Mr. Hegseth didn’t apply to West Point, as he has said publicly in the past. This statement is incorrect; not only did Mr. Hegseth apply, but he was also accepted to the West Point Class of 2003.”
“Worse, the statement may violate Mr. Hegseth’s rights under the Privacy Act of 1974 by revealing protected personal information. If true, it also demonstrates egregiously bad judgment to share such information about the nominee to be Secretary of Defense with a known liberal outlet like ProPublica.”
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Sen. Tom Cotton immediately wrote to West Point calling out the error. (Photographer: Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., also demanded information on how the error occurred in his own letter last week. The senator-elect wrote to Gilland, asking for “all communication and documentation regarding how West Point OPA falsely accused Hegseth of lying about his application.”
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The school employee’s mistake comes as Hegseth continues his swing on Capitol Hill meeting with senators in hopes of being confirmed in 2025 as Trump’s secretary of Defense.
West Point did not immediately provide comment to Fox News Digital.
