❓WHAT HAPPENED: E-mails released via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit reveal West Point confirmed Pete Hegseth’s acceptance into the academy in 1999 but delayed correcting a false statement to the media that he never applied.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: West Point, Pete Hegseth, ProPublica, and the Center to Advance Security in America.
📍WHEN & WHERE: December 10-11, 2024, at West Point and online.
💬KEY QUOTE: “It is clear that while West Point quickly provided false information on the record that they were reluctant to correct the record, allowed false information to mislead the American public in the midst of the contentious confirmation hearing, and even falsely accused Secretary Hegseth of creating an illegitimate letter.” – Center to Advance Security in America
🎯IMPACT: The incident raises concerns about political partisanship at the military academy during Hegseth’s nomination as Defense Secretary.
Newly disclosed e-mails, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit by the Center to Advance Security in America, have brought to light that West Point confirmed Pete Hegseth‘s acceptance into the U.S. Military Academy in 1999 on December 10, 2024. Despite this, the academy hesitated to correct an initial false statement provided to ProPublica earlier on December 10, asserting that he had never even applied. Hegseth himself shared his acceptance letter publicly on X (formerly Twitter) the very next day.
“It is clear that while West Point quickly provided false information on the record that they were reluctant to correct the record, allowed false information to mislead the American public in the midst of the contentious confirmation hearing, and even falsely accused Secretary Hegseth of creating an illegitimate letter,” the Center to Advance Security in America said in a statement.
The situation unfolded after ProPublica questioned Hegseth’s admission claims on December 6, 2024. On December 10, West Point’s media relations chief, Theresa Brinkerhoff, mistakenly asserted that Hegseth had never applied. ProPublica approached Hegseth’s team, who insisted he had applied and been accepted, causing ProPublica to return to West Point for confirmation. Although internal confirmation of his acceptance was achieved at West Point later that day, officials refrained from updating the media, with one official whose identity has been redacted advising against confirming or denying the information with any media outlet.
This reluctance resulted in Hegseth preemptively posting his acceptance letter on December 11. West Point communications director Terence Kelley acknowledged the misstep off-the-record but delayed providing an official correction until 10:46 AM on December 11, several hours after Hegseth’s public post and nearly a day after the internal confirmation.
The academy later issued an apology, attributing the error to an “administrative error” and a failure to review archived databases. However, it is now clear that a deliberate decision was made not to correct the false information supplied to ProPublica until after Hegseth went public.
The incident garnered attention in light of Hegseth’s nomination as Defense Secretary by President Donald J. Trump, with West Point’s actions suggesting political partisanship at the military academy.
NEW: Emails obtained by @SecureUSA and shared with @FreeBeacon show that West Point officials CONFIRMED Hegseth’s acceptance on Dec. 10.
But West Point waited until AFTER Hegseth posted his acceptance letter on Dec. 11 before correcting its false statement to ProPublica.
🧵 https://t.co/jG0jT741Pj pic.twitter.com/O0CpcxELR9
— Andrew Kerr (@AndrewKerrNC) July 31, 2025
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