An explosive new report revealed that the U.S. Military Academy at West Point got wrapped up in far-left news outlet ProPublica’s attempt to discredit Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, with the report detailing how misinformation from West Point was not corrected until Secretary Hegseth himself intervened and proved both West Point and ProPublica wrong.
For context, on July 31, 2025, journalist Andrew Kerr of the Washington Free Beacon shared a lengthy report confirming that the United States Military Academy (West Point) had colluded with the left-wing media group ProPublica in an attempt to smear Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and portray him as having never been accepted into the academy.
Writing on X on July 31, Kerr shared screenshots of emails in which West Point confirmed that Hegseth was accepted into West Point. However, as Kerr explained, “West Point waited until AFTER Hegseth posted his acceptance letter on Dec. 11 before correcting its false statement to ProPublica.”
Continuing, Kerr explained that emails shared with the Free Beacon show that ProPublica “ProPublica first reached out to West Point on Dec. 6 inquiring about Hegseth’s acceptance into the school in 1999.” He added, “After some back and forth, on Dec. 10, West Point media relations chief Theresa Brinkerhoff provided an ON-THE-RECORD statement to ProPublica: ‘Hegseth had not applied for admission to the U.S. Military Academy.'”
However, Secretary Hegseth posted a copy of his West Point acceptance letter on social media on December 11, 2024, writing, “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.” He added, “Here’s my letter of acceptance signed by West Point Superintendent, Lieutenant General Daniel Christman, US Army.”
On the other hand, before Secretary Hegseth discredited ProPublica’s story, West Point’s communications director, Terrence Kelly, “had an off-the-record call with ProPublica on the afternoon of Dec. 10 informing the outlet that Hegseth was accepted into the school in 1999,” according to emails shared by Kerr. However, Kerr explained that the nature of the call “put Propublica in a tough spot” because the outlet could not notify Hegseth of the correction because “West Point provided it off the record.”
After the scandal was brought to light by Kerr, conservative commentator Mike Cernovich weighed in online, writing, “West Point officers colluded with a far left wing outlet to promote a hoax about the Secretary of Defense.” He added, “If Pete Hegseth hasn’t kept his acceptance letter, this could have forced him into scandal. Fire the entire chain of command at USMA!”
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In response to Cernovich’s comments on the debacle, conservatives expressed outrage, with one X user writing, “It’s a bit like a civil war via paperwork.” Another commented, “Fire them – these are not people who are upholding the character we would expect out of this institution and passed down to their students. Relieve them of their duties.”
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