Pentagon Attacks Washington Post Over Report On Hegseth's Security Costs

The Pentagon is lashing out at The Washington Post over a report that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s unusually large personal security requirements are overburdening the Army agency that protects him and his family, claiming the scrutiny “puts lives at risk.”

The Post report found that the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division (CID) has had to pull agents from criminal investigations to protect Hegseth’s family residences in Minnesota, Tennessee and Washington, D.C. — a multi-million dollar effort that one CID official said is unlike any other in the agency’s recent history.

But chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell on Tuesday said any action related to the security of Hegseth and his family “has been in response to the threat environment and at the full recommendation” of CID. 

“In the wake of two assassinations attempts against President Trump, ICE agents facing a 1000% increase in assaults, and repeated threats of retaliation from Iran for striking their nuclear capabilities, it's astonishing that the Washington Post is criticizing a high-ranking cabinet official for receiving appropriate security protection,” Parnell wrote in a post to X.

And while the Post said it withheld several sensitive details from the report, including the size of Hegseth’s protective details and the exact places where they are assigned, Parnell claimed the outlet was doxing the defense secretary, referring to the practice of publishing private or identifying information about an individual on the internet.

“When left-wing blogs like the Washington Post continue to dox cabinet secretaries’ security protocols and movements, it puts lives at risk,” he wrote.

The report comes as Army CID in recent years has struggled with staffing and budgetary shortfalls, with new security demands caused by Hegseth placing added pressure on the agency, officials told the Post.

“We have complete inability to achieve our most basic missions,” one person told the outlet.

CID, whose chief mission is to investigate serious crimes within the Army, including contracting fraud, sexual assault and other violent crimes, also is in charge of protecting the Pentagon chief and other current and former top defense officials, such as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Army secretary. 

CID agents serve as advance teams, coordinating security ahead of public appearances. They also staff motorcades and provide security during travel at home and abroad.

About 150 of CID’s roughly 1,500 agents serve on personal protective duty, though that number has been beefed up to 400 to 500 since Hegseth started at the Pentagon in January, according to the Post.

The number is greatly inflated due to Hegseth’s large blended family, which includes multiple children across his current and ex-wife, as well as a rise in politically motivated violence. 

To provide around-the-clock security, CID has had to move agents from investigations to send them for long-term assignments in Tennessee, or Minnesota, the latter of which is where Hegseth’s second wife lives, people familiar with the matter told the Post. 

Agents are being taken off investigations, “doing what we are supposed to be doing,” to “sit on luggage” instead or “sit in the cars on the driveway,” one CID official frustrated with the situation said to the outlet.

To fill any staffing gaps, CID has had to activate military reservists.

In a statement to The Hill, a senior Army CID official acknowledged the agency “operates within existing resource constraints” and said it “proactively adjusts its efforts to address emerging threats and maintains a robust security posture in both the investigative and protective realms.” 

CID also said Hegseth did not request the additional coverage and that he “has never effected CIDs recommended security posture.”

Updated at 2:15 p.m. EDT.