PETERING OUT

Republican Rebel Makes Bold Prediction About Pentagon Pete’s Fate

The lawmaker is determined to get his pound of flesh before he leaves.

Pete Hegseth’s days as secretary of defense are numbered, according to a Republican lawmaker.

Hegseth has come under mounting pressure after the GOP suffered humiliating losses in the midterms, with the hugely unpopular Iran war chief among voters’ concerns.

No voice has been louder in calling for Hegseth to go than Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who initiated impeachment proceedings against the former Fox News host in September and renewed them Monday.

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He filed eight articles of impeachment, linked to various incidents including the destruction of alleged drug boats and the treatment of Sen. Mark Kelly. Hours later, Massie appeared on CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins, where he broke down the articles and made his bold prediction: that Hegseth will be gone by the end of the year.

Trump has said he will stand by Hegseth regardless of the impeachment, and when Collins asked Massie what he thought of that, he said, “They stand by them until the day they don’t. You can’t expose any weakness in these press conferences. And I still put it at a high probability that Pete Hegseth won’t make it until December 31 of this year.”

He added, “I think there’s a high probability he will not make it to the end.”

Massie has filed the articles based on various allegations, including that he carried out extrajudicial killings and that he had waged a war without the approval of Congress. Six of the eight articles relate to following alleged illegal orders.

Collins asked Massie if his Hegseth prediction meant a resignation. Massie had a warning for him in reply.

“Well, first of all, impeachment is actually kind of a polite thing,” Massie said. “I’m not proposing he go to prison. I’m not proposing that he be exposed to civil liability. We’re just saying you need to be out of a job right now. And when the Democrats get control in January, they are not gonna be as polite as I am.

“Look, they’re going to have hearings in the House. They’re gonna bring in people who’ve served under Hegseth, people who’ve seen some things and know some things that aren’t even public yet. And they’ll be sworn in, they’ll have to testify against Pete Hegseth. And then it’ll go to a trial in the Senate.”

He noted there’s also another time pressure on Trump.

“When Hegseth is no longer the Secretary of Defense, Donald Trump’s going to be looking at a Senate that’s not going to be very kind in terms of approving his nominations.”

Massie has become locked in a bitter fight with Trump and his lackeys. The president has regularly insulted him, calling him a “total loser.”

In his Truth Social promise to “stand up for Pete,” he laid into Massie for “trying to impeach perhaps the most popular and successful military official in the Country.”

When Collins asked him about that, Massie said: “Well, this isn’t a popularity contest,” adding that he hadn’t brought in the articles “because I thought Pete Hegseth was ineffective, or because I disagreed with his policy.”

Massie lost his primary to Trump-backed Ed Gallrein earlier in the year and will leave Congress in January.

Hegseth has since released a video in which he attacks Massie, claiming he is bitter after losing to Gallrein.

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House and the Pentagon for comment.

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Harry ThompsonNews Reporter

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