The media's smear campaign against Pete Hegseth appears to be imploding as members of Congress rally behind the Defense nominee following a blatantly false claim about his qualifications.
In a stunningly dishonest move, West Point falsely claimed that Hegseth was never accepted to the prestigious military academy, which in fact offered him a slot that he did not accept.
An editor at left-wing ProPublica defended the story, claiming West Point told the outlet twice that Hegseth never applied to the school.
Hegseth posted an image of his acceptance letter online to pre-empt Pro Publica's smear piece.
West Point's involvement in spreading an egregiously false claim about Hegseth has raised concern of malfeasance, with Rep. Jim Banks (In.) suggesting political collusion between the respected academy and left-wing reporters.
"It is outrageous that West Point officials would so grossly interfere in a political process and make false claims regarding a presidential nominee," Banks told Fox News.
"Even in the unlikely scenario of OPA mistakenly making false claims not once but twice, it is an unforgivable act of incompetence that OPA did not make absolutely sure their information was accurate before sharing it with a reporter."
Hegseth's nomination appeared to bounce back this week after a barrage of media attacks left his confirmation in doubt.
The firestorm has focused on his treatment of women, with reporters leaking an emotional e-mail from his mother and anonymous claims, which were later discredited, about his behavior at two veterans' groups.
This week, Hegseth said he had received notice that ProPublica was preparing to publish a "knowingly false" report about his acceptance to West Point. The school later apologized for the "administrative error."
Many are sure to be skeptical that this was simply an innocent mistake, given the firestorm of controversy surrounding Hegseth and his opposition to "woke" ideology in the military and the service academies.
Banks, a Trump loyalist, won election to the Senate this year and is supporting Hegseth's confirmation to head the Pentagon. Hegseth has been meeting with Republican senators to build support for his confirmation.
"Pete Hegseth will shake up the DOD and eliminate wokeness from our military and military academies. This upsets the bureaucrats at West Point, who now seem to be trying to sabotage his nomination," Banks told Fox News Digital.
