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Hegseth attacks IRS as he returns from disastrous trip abroad [1]
['Daily Kos Staff']
Date: 2025-02-18
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, reeling from days of unflattering headlines in his first few weeks on the job, suddenly launched an attack on Monday on the Biden administration that raised more questions about his behavior.
Since being confirmed on a partisan party line vote without any Democratic support, Hegseth has pushed President Donald Trump’s anti-civil rights agenda at the department, purging programs meant to strengthen the military by making it a diverse fighting force. He has received immediate pushback, including protests from children on a military base and a general who called the Trump actions “racist.”
On his first foreign trip in his new position, Hegseth immediately made remarks undermining Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression. His statement was condemned by a wide array of European leaders.Even Republican Sen. Roger Wicker, who voted to confirm him, said Hegseth was not making sense. On the same trip, Hegseth invited an antisemitic conspiracy theorist, Jack Posobiec, to travel alongside him, creating another wave of critical stories.
Possibly seeking refuge from the bad news, the former Fox News host lashed out.
Without offering up any proof to back up his claim Hegseth wrote, “Of course the outgoing Biden IRS rushed an ‘audit’ of the incoming SecDef. Total sham. The party of ‘norms’ and ‘decency’ strikes again. We will never back down.” The statement was posted alongside an image purportedly from the IRS informing Hegseth that he and his wife are being audited because they owe over $33,000 in taxes.
The post was right out of the playbook of Fox News: When faced with serious questions about job performance and competency, complain about a Democrat. But the post raised several questions, though not about the former president.
Hegseth didn’t reveal when he actually received the IRS letter, but while going through his Senate confirmation he never disclosed that he was under audit. If he knew about the action at the time, did he intentionally mislead Congress? Hegseth and the Trump team working behind the scenes tried to intimidate witnesses who were offering up testimony about his alleged abusive behavior and misconduct, so was suppressing the IRS action part of those efforts?
Hegseth’s core argument also raises questions about his truthfulness. “The selection process [for an audit] is fenced off from the political appointees,” Nina Olson, executive director of the Center for Taxpayer Rights told the Washington Post in response to Hegseth’s claim.
Steve Rosenthal, a former fellow at the Tax Policy Center, told the outlet “in all my years, I’ve never seen the IRS pursue an individual for political purposes.” He said that Hegseth being audited was a “remarkable coincidence” but added, “I believe the IRS.”
Hegseth did disclose during Senate hearings that he made millions from Fox News and on the public speaking circuit. In the last two years he hauled in over $5.6 million in that capacity. Then why, apparently, did he fail to pay the thousands the IRS is investigating?
The former Fox News host and errant axe thrower said during those very same hearings that he is pro-audit. Hegseth told senators that the Pentagon would undergo an audit of its expenditures if he was confirmed, noting, “the American taxpayers deserve that.” Why is it okay for the department and not for its leader?
Hegseth spent his trip abroad articulating a world view based on false masculinity, infamously arguing that “you can’t shoot values.” But as soon as he got a little bit of heat he emotionally lashed out, coming across as more of a whiner than the macho man he has purported to be throughout his time in the public eye.
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[1] Url:
https://dailykos.com/stories/2025/2/18/2304519/-Hegseth-attacks-IRS-as-he-returns-from-disastrous-trip-abroad?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_4&pm_medium=web
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