Pentagon rattled by leadership rift as Pete Hegseth's inner circle feuds - is the Defense Secretary's job on the line?
A man in Australia is in trouble for lying about medicine sales. Police took his 12 fancy cars, including Ferraris and Lamborghinis. He may go to jail if found guilty. The case is part of a big fraud investigation.
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The Pentagon is said to be facing a 'Cold War' inside the department, but it's not about Russia. It's about drama and fights among top people. Two senior aides working for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are fighting, and it's causing big problems for the department, according to the reportsMany people working in the Pentagon told the paper that things look fine from the outside, but behind the scenes it's messy, with fights, inexperience, and missing staff. The Washington Post report said, 'There's a cold war that exists in between flash points,' and described how tempers often flare among Hegseth's team.The main fight is between Eric Geressy and Ricky Buria , two of Hegseth's closest aides. Geressy is a retired soldier who once served with Hegseth in Iraq and mentored him. Buria used to be a military assistant to Hegseth but was later promoted to acting chief of staff, states report.Geressy believes Buria is trying to sideline other staff to make himself look better to the Trump team. Things got worse during the Signalgate scandal in March. Geressy was left out of meetings during a Pacific trip and blamed Buria for it. Geressy also said too many people in the Trump administration were using the Signal app, and claimed the White House saw Buria as arrogant. Geressy leads a team called JSIAG, which includes Special Forces and other government workers. They focus on fighting Mexican drug cartels, as mentioned by The Washington Post report.Hegseth once gave Geressy the Distinguished Service Cross for bravery in combat. Buria is a former Marine Corps pilot and earlier worked with President Biden's Defense Secretary. In February, Hegseth fired Lt. Gen. Jennifer Short without saying why, and gave Buria her role, a three-star general's job. This sudden promotion of Buria made other top military officers angry.After the temporary assignment ended, Buria wanted to retire from the military and stay on as a civilian adviser, with support from Hegseth's wife, Jennifer. When Hegseth's previous chief of staff Joe Kasper quit in April, people started wondering if Hegseth could still manage his staff. Hegseth then made Buria the acting chief of staff, but it's not clear if the White House will approve him long-term, as per reportsBuria once called Trump and Senator Vance 'crazy' and 'dumb', according to a New York Post report. Trump said he didn't know who Buria was, and if it's true, 'we don't take him.'Geressy is tired of the chaos and thought about quitting, but he's stayed because he's loyal to Hegseth and his team, as per the CNN report.The fights between Geressy and Buria show how unstable the Pentagon is, especially after Hegseth has had a number of scandals. Some defense officials say it's unclear how long Hegseth can keep his job unless he brings order to his staff. Around the same time Buria got promoted, Hegseth fired three senior officials, Dan Caldwell, Darin Selnick, and Colin Carroll, saying they leaked info to the media.The three fired officials said they were unfairly attacked and that the accusations were totally false. Hegseth's spokesperson, Sean Parnell, tried to downplay the drama, saying staff changes are normal in 'effective organizations.' Parnell also said Hegseth is focused on putting the right people in the right roles to carry out Trump's plans. He said the public doesn't care about 'palace gossip', but about real action from the Defense Department, as mentioned in the reports.Parnell insisted Hegseth's team is united and working to focus on warfighting and getting results. After the firings, Hegseth hired three new senior advisers, Sean Parnell, Justin Fulcher, and Patrick Weaver. Fulcher came from the Department of Energy, and Weaver worked in Congress, the National Security Council, and Homeland Security, according to The Washington Post.On Memorial Day, Trump supported Hegseth, calling him a 'tough cookie' and praising his work for troops and veterans, saying he had 'gone through a lot.'He is accused of earning illegal money by making fake medicine claims.If he is found guilty, the government will sell the cars to fund crime prevention programs.
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