Hegseth calls impeachment bid a ‘farce’ as he defends Iran war

US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth called an impeachment bill against him a “farce” on Tuesday, defending the ongoing war in Iran and the air strikes against drug traffickers as “lawful operation”.

Speaking at the first press conference in more than 180 days, Hegseth described Thomas Massie, a Republican lawmaker who introduced the impeachment bill against him on Tuesday, as “one disgruntled and defeated congressman” who is attempting to “damage” US President Donald Trump due to a “personal manifesto driven by ego and resentment” and policy disagreements from “people who want to politicise our military”.

He stressed that no US secretary of defence has ever been impeached over carrying out “lawful” and “successful” military operations. He predicted the effort would fail, invoking Trump’s two impeachments, both of which ended in Senate acquittals.