Great stuff from Rep. Eugene Vindman (D-VA07):
Vindman Uncovers DoD Lies to the American People About Russia Cyber Operations, Slams Hegseth in Armed Services Subcommittee Hearing
Washington – Congressman Eugene Vindman (Va.-07) uncovered during a subcommittee hearing today that the Department of Defense lied from its Twitter account on March 4th claiming to the American people that Secretary Hegseth never directed to cease offensive cyber operations targeting Russia in connection with the war in Ukraine. Vindman uncovered that this pause of offensive cyber operations did happen.
In response to remarks from Chairman Don Bacon (Neb.-02), it was revealed that the DoD paused these offensive operations for one day. Vindman continued to probe the matter which made clear that transparency is non-negotiable when American security and global stability are on the line.
This represents another egregious breach of trust by Secretary Hegseth and underscores his need to resign immediately.
In the subcommittee hearing, the following took place:
Vindman questioned DoD representative Laurie Buckhout asking why “on March 4th, the DoD Rapid Response Twitter account denied [the fact that the Secretary issued an order to cyber command to pause offensive cyber operations against Russia].
“The account stated that the Secretary neither canceled nor delayed any cyber operations directed against malicious Russian targets and that there has been no stand down order whatsoever from that party. I’d like you to confirm that the Secretary did not issue any stand down orders to cyber command as it relates to Russian operations.”
Ms. Buckhout responded that she “was not here at that time. But, [she’s] not aware of any stand down operations ordered at that time.”
Chairman Bacon then responded to offer that he “dug into this whole matter. There was a one day pause.”
During Vindman’s second line of questioning, he asserted that “the statement from the DoD Rapid Response Twitter account was an outright lie. This is not what the American people deserve, and this is something I intend to follow up with when the Secretary actually shows up.”
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