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Hegseth reportedly fires the DIA chief, pushing Pentagon purge to a ridiculous new level
The Defense Intelligence Agency told the White House what it didn’t want to hear. Soon after, the defense secretary reportedly fired the head of the DIA.
The Defense Intelligence Agency told the White House what it didn’t want to hear. Soon after, Hegseth fired the head of the DIA.
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-08-22T20:05:23.575Z
The point wasn’t to deliver a message to Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse — it was to deliver a message to everyone else about the consequences of failing to toe the line.
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/hegseth-reportedly-fires-dia-chief-pushing-pentagon-purge-ridiculous-n-rcna226659
The White House desperately wanted the American public to believe the Iranian program had been “obliterated,” but the information collected by the DIA suggested the political talking points simply weren’t true.
Two months later, the head of the DIA is apparently out of a job. The Washington Post reported:
.....It comes against a backdrop of a larger offensive against the U.S. intelligence community. Just as notably, it’s the latest evidence of Hegseth’s ongoing Pentagon purge. Indeed, it comes just days after Gen. David Allvin, the chief of staff of the Air Force, was also shown the door.
The broader purge also includes Air Force Gen. Timothy Haugh, who was both the head of U.S. Cyber Command and the director of the National Security Agency; Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Gen. James Slife, former vice chief of staff of the Air Force; Adm. Linda Fagan, the commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard; Adm. Lisa Franchetti; Lt. Gen. Jennifer Short; Lt. Gen. Joseph B. Berger III, the Army’s top military lawyer; Lt. Gen. Charles Plummer, the Air Force’s top military lawyer; and Navy Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, the only woman on NATO’s military committee.
Earlier this year, five former defense secretaries — including retired Gen. Jim Mattis, Trump’s first defense secretary — condemned the firings as “reckless.” Their joint letter, addressed to Congress, asked that the House and the Senate hold “immediate hearings to assess the national security implications” of the dismissals......
“That’s a recipe not just for a politicized military, but an authoritarian military,” Moulton said. “That’s the way militaries work in Russia and China and North Korea.”
The Massachusetts Democrat made those comments in May. The problem is worse now.
Two months later, the head of the DIA is apparently out of a job. The Washington Post reported:
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has fired Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, the latest senior military or intelligence officer to lose his position in a wider purge of national security agencies’ top ranks, according to two people familiar with the matter.
.....It comes against a backdrop of a larger offensive against the U.S. intelligence community. Just as notably, it’s the latest evidence of Hegseth’s ongoing Pentagon purge. Indeed, it comes just days after Gen. David Allvin, the chief of staff of the Air Force, was also shown the door.
The broader purge also includes Air Force Gen. Timothy Haugh, who was both the head of U.S. Cyber Command and the director of the National Security Agency; Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Gen. James Slife, former vice chief of staff of the Air Force; Adm. Linda Fagan, the commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard; Adm. Lisa Franchetti; Lt. Gen. Jennifer Short; Lt. Gen. Joseph B. Berger III, the Army’s top military lawyer; Lt. Gen. Charles Plummer, the Air Force’s top military lawyer; and Navy Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, the only woman on NATO’s military committee.
Earlier this year, five former defense secretaries — including retired Gen. Jim Mattis, Trump’s first defense secretary — condemned the firings as “reckless.” Their joint letter, addressed to Congress, asked that the House and the Senate hold “immediate hearings to assess the national security implications” of the dismissals......
“That’s a recipe not just for a politicized military, but an authoritarian military,” Moulton said. “That’s the way militaries work in Russia and China and North Korea.”
The Massachusetts Democrat made those comments in May. The problem is worse now.