1. United States
2. Wash.
3. Letter

Congress must investigate Pete Hegseth for lying to the American people about the Iran war. On April 8, Hegseth declared a "capital-V military victory" and claimed Iran could no longer build missiles, rockets, launchers, or drones. That was false. Iran resumed ballistic-missile production. It kept firing. The regime survived. The real damage is staggering. Satellite analysis identified at least 228 American military structures or pieces of equipment damaged or destroyed across 15 regional sites. General Barry McCaffrey concluded that the U.S. has "probably permanently lost access to 15 Persian Gulf bases." The Navy's logistics infrastructure in Bahrain was struck so severely that operations were redirected to Diego Garcia. That is not a reorganization. That is a strategic retreat imposed by enemy fire. Meanwhile, Patriot and THAAD interceptors, Tomahawk missiles, and other precision munitions needed to deter China and reinforce NATO have been depleted — and replacing them may take years. Subpoena the battle-damage assessments, casualty reports, munitions inventories, and communications between Central Command, Hegseth, and the White House. Compare what commanders reported privately with what Hegseth said publicly. Determine whether losses were falsely categorized, whether intelligence was manipulated, and whether public funds were used to manufacture propaganda. The questions are simple: what did Hegseth know, when did he know it, and who ordered the truth concealed?