Tom Cotton calls on West Point to investigate reports it lied to the press

Republican Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton on Wednesday called for the U.S. Military Academy at West Point to conduct an internal investigation into allegations that it repeatedly lied to a member of the press about Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth.

A reporter at ProPublica claimed that an official at the school told them on the record twice that Hegseth was never accepted into the military academy, and had lied about his relationship with the school. Hegseth claimed that he was accepted to the school, but did not attend, which the academy has since confirmed.

ProPublica decided not to run the story after Hegseth posted a photo of his acceptance letter, but conservatives, including Cotton, have questioned why the left-leaning publication did not do a report on the mistakes that the school made. 

“Officials at the U.S. Military Academy should not be feeding lies to left-wing reporters about President Trump’s nominees,” Cotton posted on X. “West Point needs to thoroughly investigate this egregiously bad judgement and potential violation of the Privacy Act immediately.”

Cotton also shared a copy of the letter he sent West Point Superintendent Lieutenant General Steven W. Gilland, which claimed the error could have violated the 1974 Privacy Act for revealing personal information about the former Fox anchor.

Vice President-elect JD Vance, who is also a senator, targeted the ProPublica reporter, accusing them of failing to report the "actual story" of being lied to. 

"You were misled by a bureaucrat. That's actually a story, just not the one you wanted to print," Vance said in a post on X. "The effort to tank Hegseth's nomination is one of the most coordinated smear campaigns I've ever seen in DC."

West Point told the Daily Wire that the discrepancy was because of an "administrative error" but that a further review confirmed that he was accepted into West Point in 1999, but did not attend the university.

“An incorrect statement involving Hegseth’s admission to the U.S. Military Academy was released by an employee on Dec. 10, 2024,” the West Point directorate of communications said in a statement. “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,” it added.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.