Things got heated on Wednesday during a committee hearing.
And as the temperature turned up, a searing hot spotlight was cast on both Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and progressive Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Wednesday’s contentious hearing covered a variety of topics, but one moment in particular has begun to go viral.
“I’m also concerned about recent reporting on your own financial dealings with regard to profiting from the war in Iran,” Warren said. “The Financial Times reported that your broker tried to buy hundreds of shares in a BlackRock fund invested in defense companies just before the war began.”
“The law clearly prohibits the secretary–.”
Hegseth immediately fired back: “That entire story is false, has been from the beginning, and was made up out of whole cloth.”
“And anybody that looks at it sees how it was worded from the beginning to make it look like I was involved in something I had nothing do [with] and never have,” Hegseth continued. “So any insinuation that I’ve ever profited other than serving this nation — what I give, what you give, what others give, I’m not looking for money.
“I don’t do it for the money. I don’t do it for profit. I don’t do it for stocks. And that’s part of the reason why I’m able to be effective in this job, because no one owns me,” he continued.
“No one owns this department. No one owns this president. And we can execute for the American people. And we do.”
A flustered Warren ignored Hegseth’s remarks and kept plowing along her original line of inquiry.
“The law clearly prohibits the Secretary of Defense from owning stock in the 10 biggest defense contractors,” Warren said.
She then claimed Hegseth had not responded to a Senate inquiry regarding whether or not he owns any of those defense contractor stocks.
“So I’d like to hear you say: Did you, through your broker at Morgan Stanley or otherwise, seek to invest in any defense-related funds right before Trump started the Iran War?” Warren asked.
“I’ll give it to you as a big, fat negative,” Hegseth answered.
“Then let me ask you a second question,” a visibly annoyed Warren said. “Is your broker getting your personal sign off on any investment in individual stocks?”
“Bigger, fatter negative.”
“He’s not getting your sign-off before he makes investments in defense stocks?” Warren asked, feigning incredulity.
“I’m not making investments,” a fed-up Hegseth said, definitively.
“I’m asking, does he know that he has to get your sign-off before he does that?” Warren said.
“Of course,” Hegseth said. “I don’t know what you’re looking for, but you ain’t going to find it.”
Hegseth would ultimately get the final word as time expired on the exchange. You can watch the entire viral clip for yourself below:
Interestingly enough, the comments section of the above clip was surprisingly split. While some commenters sided with Warren, others were quick to remind the liberal lawmaker that she, too, has often faced accusations that she’s used her government position to enrich herself.
“‘He tried to profit’ is coming from [someone] who actually profited from their position,” one YouTube comment read.
Another post said: “They accuse others of doing what they do themselves.”
One particularly biting comment brought up Warren’s past controversial claims about being part Native American.
“Pocahontas knows about benefitting illegally from Govt programs.”
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