New Yorker Journalist Smears Vet. Who Debunked Hit Piece on Pete Hegseth
A Hack by any other name
BREITBART
The New Yorker‘s Jane Mayer — who previously pushed the Russia collusion hoax against President-elect Donald Trump — on Tuesday attacked combat veteran and former U.S. House candidate Sean Parnell for debunking her hit piece on Trump Defense Secretary Nominee Pete Hegseth.
Mayer published a piece on Hegseth Sunday that recycled old claims from a decade ago from disgruntled ex-coworkers of his who were fired from a veterans advocacy organization that Hegseth ran between 2013 and 2016.
The anonymously-sourced claims were that Hegseth drank at holiday parties and afterwork events as he traveled around the country mobilizing veterans to vote and was forced to resign from the organization, as well as another veterans advocacy organization, due to mismanagement.
However, Parnell, a retired U.S. Army Ranger who worked with Hegseth at Concerned Veterans for America, went on the record to reject those claims. He told Compact Magazine, “I was there for most of those alleged incidents, and this stuff is just complete fabrications.”
The Committee on Arrangements for the 2020 Republican National Committee via Getty Images, Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
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He added that the so-called “whistleblower” claims in the New Yorker piece were from “people who were let go as the organization was growing, who weren’t fulfilling their duties. They just weren’t.”
Parnell also said Hegseth was not forced out of his position due to personal misconduct or mismanagement, saying, “That couldn’t be further from the truth.”
Parnell said,
This was right before President Trump began his first term. Pete and I were on the media all the time, talking about national security and foreign policy. And he and I became big believers in Trump’s vision of foreign policy. The funders of that organization [CVA] didn’t necessarily believe that. And because of that policy difference, over what America’s foreign and national-security policy should be, Pete parted ways. It was 100 percent professional, political differences.
Parnell also said the claim that Hegseth had no immediate job options was not true either. “He was a Fox News contributor,” adding he was in negotiations to become a full-time anchor and that “ABC was interested in him, as well.”
The New York Post on Wednesday posted a 2016 letter from a CVA trustee that backed up Parnell’s account and demolished a key claim in Mayer’s piece.
It said:
The truth is Pete resigned his position as CEO of Concerned Veterans for America as a result of a difference of opinion as to the future of the organization and so that he could focus on other endeavors, including his relationship with Fox News. Pete was not terminated by the organization and, in fact, we at CVA worked with him though this difficult decision and mutually agreed the end of 2015 was the best timing for both parties.
…
The bottom line is that Pete Hegseth voluntarily resigned his position and CVA recognizes and appreciates his accomplishments as CEO. Pete provided strong leadership during the growth of CVA as an influential organization on many fronts. We wish him much success.
I told you all that this was the exact reason why Pete left CVA and it was true.
The media, that New Yorker article…lies, lies, lies.
Read.
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellUSA) December 4, 2024
For his substantiated defense of Hegseth, Mayer smeared Parnell — a combat veteran with a Purple Heart and two Bronze Stars — posting on X:
I thought at 1st this was a joke: Pete Hegseth’s character witness was accused of choking his wife
I thought at 1st this was a joke: Pete Hegseth’s character witness was accused of choking his wife
— Jane Mayer (@JaneMayerNYer) December 3, 2024
Mayer’s smear against Parnell came from an ex-wife during a contentious divorce, with no evidence that it ever happened.
Parnell fired back at Mayer: “Yeah of course I’m defending Pete. I know exactly how it feels to be falsely accused with zero corroborating evidence by soulless hacks like you. But I’m through it now & Pete will get through it too.”
Yeah of course I’m defending Pete.
I know exactly how it feels to be falsely accused with zero corroborating evidence by soulless hacks like you.
But I’m through it now & Pete will get through it too.
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellUSA) December 4, 2024
Parnell’s wife, Melanie Parnell, also blasted Mayer, calling her a “disgusting hack.” She posted on X:
You are the joke, you disgusting hack. You parrot false allegations made during a contentious divorce which had zero corroborating evidence & were refuted by his kids & others in the household. You smear @SeanParnellUSA, a great father & husband & decorated combat vet, but are silent about the allegations against Doug Emhoff, Keith Ellison, Raphael Warnock, etc. You are a pathetic excuse for a journalist.
CONTINUE READING SOURCE ARTICLE HERE…
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Header featured image (edited) credit: Jane Mayer/MSNBC screen shot. Emphasis added by (TLB)
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