Days after Stars and Stripes reported on rough conditions aboard the USS Lincoln, the Pentagon fired the outlet’s publisher, editor, and the reporter who wrote it. Around the same time, WaPo revealed something the Pentagon won’t explain: Hegseth has been quietly moving pro-Trump military influencers into government roles, with no disclosure of what they actually do. (See below)
Here’s the thing they don’t want you to know:
Using tax dollars to push propaganda at American citizens has been illegal since Congress passed 10 U.S.C. 2241a after the 2008 “message force multipliers” scandal (paid retired generals pushing WMD talking points on TV).
Same law, same playbook, different administration. Fire the journalists telling the truth. Pay the influencers telling you what you want to hear.
I hope those “influencers” have good lawyers.
The Pentagon secretly put three MAGA influencers on the government payroll.
Retired Air Force Col. Rob Maness (135K followers), retired Army Col. Kurt Schlichter (620K followers), and retired Army Col. Thomas Anderson, who writes as “Cynical Publius” (320K followers), all had active .civ government email addresses assigned to the office of Anthony Tata, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness — running PR for Hegseth and going after his critics, none of it disclosed to their audiences.
Pentagon spokesman Joel Valdez refused to say whether any of them draw a taxpayer-funded salary, what their actual duties are, or how long the jobs last. This from the department that calls itself “the most transparent Defense Department ever.”
One of these three even has a documented history of lying with a national platform: in 2021, Kurt Schlichter falsely claimed the National School Boards Association wanted parents who protest school policy labeled “domestic terrorists” — AP rated it false. Now he’s inside the Pentagon on an undisclosed assignment, amplifying Hegseth’s message.
And remember, retirement doesn’t erase accountability — this April, this same Pentagon invoked UCMJ Article 133/134 against retired Navy officer Sen. Mark Kelly for criticizing Trump. Same uniform, same rules, opposite treatment: retired officers get threatened with court-martial for criticizing this administration, and quietly put on the payroll for cheerleading it.
Those three retired officers will be disciplined after Hegseth is impeached. And this time it will be the legit.
Hope going against your oath was worth it.
You only need lawyers when accountability is in play and we are devoid of that at the moment.
Sep 3, 2026 · 2:39 PM UTC