A senior Pentagon official who boasted on hidden camera that he could undo whatevers been done by President Donald Trumps appointees has now been removed from his post.
The episode unfolded after Brandon Newsom, until recently a senior director in the Office of the Secretary of the Navy, sat down for what he believed was a gay date but was in fact a sting operation by undercover journalist James OKeefe, as reported by Western Journal. OKeefe, best known as the founder of Project Veritas, met Newsom while posing under a false identity and recorded the conversation that would quickly end the bureaucrats Pentagon career.
In the video, Newsom derided President Trump as a textbook narcissist and boasted that he could undo whatevers been done by the administrations appointees once President Trump left office. I want to stay and stick it out, so that way, when the time comes, I can undo whatevers been done, he said, adding, I have the influence.
Newsom went further, admitting that his position challenges my morals and signaling hostility toward expressions of faith in the military workplace. He said he would eliminate prayer service if he could, a pointed reference to the voluntary monthly prayer gathering conducted by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth for personnel who wish to attend.
The Pentagon official also disparaged the ongoing conflict with Iran, calling the war completely stupid, but its driven on one mans [Trumps] ego. In a remark that captured the cynicism many Americans associate with the entrenched bureaucracy, he added that in true D.C. nature, you dont always reveal everything in D.C.
According to OKeefe, Newsom oversees corporate operations supporting Secretary Hegseth, including HR, IT, security, facilities, records management, and implementation of executive orders, placing him in a powerful position to either carry out or quietly obstruct the Presidents directives. That revelation, combined with the footage, prompted swift action from Navy leadership, and Newsom was almost immediately suspended.
The Department of the Navy takes the conduct shown in this video extremely seriously, acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao wrote Wednesday evening on X. Such statements and apparent intent to leverage a position to undermine the policies and direction set by our elected leaders are inappropriate and incompatible with the standards expected of Department personnel.
Effective immediately, this individual has been placed on administrative leave while we determine next steps to ensure accountability and protect the integrity of our mission. By Sunday, Cao announced that Newsom is no longer employed by the Department of the Navy.
It remains unclear whether Newsom was formally terminated or chose to resign under pressure, a detail the Pentagon has not yet clarified. Whichever the case, OKeefe publicly celebrated the outcome on his X account, pointedly asking, Who in the Deep state should I sting next?
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