The Pentagon’s spokesman is facing backlash for falsely claiming that it is a “crime” for journalists to publish classified information following a report that some military leaders were critical of extending President Donald Trump’s war in Iran. A classified Pentagon assessment reviewed by The Washington Post reportedly advised Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that prolonging the conflict in Iran was weakening the U.S. elsewhere, including on home soil. The warning appeared this month in the Secretary of Defense Orders Book, which details the availability of U.S. military resources around the world and includes input from senior defense officials, the newspaper reported.
The book is usually published twice a month. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell furiously hit out at the Post for publishing the report, writing on X that it was “a betrayal of the force” and constituted a crime. And much of what they’re publishing is inaccurate.
Of course, we demand candid military advice. Non-concurs are standard. The Secretary sees them constantly.
That’s how you run a real military.” “We are in great shape around the world,” his post continued. It’s TDS [Trump Derangement Syndrome] and PDS [Pete Derangement Syndrome]— they hate President Trump and Secretary Hegseth more than they love America.” Parnell’s social media post, which received 1.5 million views, was swiftly updated with a community note explaining the law on publishing classified information. Supreme Court ruled in New York Times Co. v.
United States (1971) that the First Amendment protects the press's right to publish classified information of public interest,” the note read, referring to a New York Times explainer about the landmark 1971 Pentagon Papers ruling. Dan Lamothe, the Post’s military affairs reporter who contributed to the story, also clapped back at Parnell on X. The Post’s communications office backed its reporters and rebuked Parnell in a statement.
Ted Lieu of California wrote that the First Amendment protects the freedom of the press, including the right to publish classified information. Military leaders were prompted to speak out about the Iran war, which has dragged on for six months with no end in sight, after the orders book said some U.S. troops would remain in the Middle East into 2027, sources told the Post. European Command and U.S.
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