Hegseth Responds to Impeachment Threat: ‘This is Not About Me’

War Secretary Pete Hegseth framed any threat of impeachment against him as actually being against the U.S. armed forces.

Hegseth talked about the issue Tuesday morning in the Pentagon briefing room where he blasted eight articles of impeachment against him drafted by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.)

He said the articles sent a message to U.S. troops that their service is a “crime.”

“Their service was not a crime,” Hegseth said. “These are heroes, and no politician in Washington will tell them otherwise.”

House Republicans are expected to hold a procedural vote on the articles Tuesday. It is not clear what the outcome will be.

In turn, Hegseth called Massie a “loser.”

“This is not about me,” he said. Lawmakers “have accused the sailors and the pilots who struck narco-terrorist boats of war crimes for doing their job.”

“They mock the Constitution,” Hegseth continued. “They attack the chain of command, and they criminalize the war fighters who execute lawful orders.”

The impeachment articles accuse Hegseth of “high crimes and misdemeanors.” This includes illegally launching the Iran war and killing hundreds of civilians in boat strikes against alleged drug-smugglers in the Caribbean.

Hegseth countered that orders to destroy alleged drug boats in the Caribbean were lawful, as well as operations to abduct Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and the war in Iran.

“If they want to come for the warriors, they’re going to have to come through me,” Hegseth said, claiming “this is not about me.” None of Massie’s articles of impeachment allege wrongdoing by individual troops.

Hegseth said he was facing “impeachment for success.”

The secretary also did not apologize when asked about Vice President JD Vance’s comments that the Iran conflict resulted in Republican loss in the midterms, saying he would do it all over again.

“We will not apologize for putting American lives first,” Hegseth said. “We will not apologize for stopping the flow of drugs that kill our citizens. We will not apologize for destroying the capabilities of a regime that chants death to America.”

Trump posted on Truth Social that “Pete Hegseth gets an ‘A’ PLUS, PLUS, PLUS for his defense against a disgruntled, angry, defeated, former Congressman, Thomas Massie, a TOTAL LOSER!”